Revenge is not a solution Or is it?
by Tervist
Summary: A fan story for the the game The Witch's House. The tragedy so many know transpires, but a person intervenes in the climax of the events to come. Some other mysteries surface, which will all require solution in order for the protagonists to find peace. Will this happen...or will it turn out that revenge is the solution after all?
1. Un:Dual Introduction

_**Important: This fic assumes that you have seen the true ending of The Witch's House. If you have not seen that ending yet and do not want it spoiled it is not recommended to read further.**_

 **** _REVENGE IS NOT A SOLUTION...OR IS IT?_

Chapter 1: Dual Introduction

In the Witch's House, Ellen's point of view:

 _*CRASH*_ The mirror in Ellen's room loudly cracked the moment she finished reading the final diary. Some sort of purple haze appeared, tainting the air inside everywhere, and making the high-pitched rumbling noise even scarier than it already was. She heard noises of soft matter sliding and churning against something hard, and given her situation, Ellen immediately recognized the source of the noise. It was Viola in Ellen's original body.

The body's features were the following: Long, wavy purple hair reaching lower than the waist, pale skin and an emaciated physique. This last was due to the fact that Ellen's body was always the host of a disease which constantly made her bones weak and frail, while also causing regular skin swelling and inflammations. Now however it was even worse. This already depressing sight has been further degraded by the fact that the body was heavily mutilated. The two legs were missing, the eyes were gouged out, and also, Ellen poured an entire flask of throat-burning medicine into the mouth. The mangled, otherwise would-be good looking red dress and the red bow in the hair made Viola something even worse to look at.

Ellen, in Viola's true body, looked a tad better: Golden blonde hair tied into twin braids with each going down a shoulder, fair skin, and a good, somewhat strong build. She was wearing brown boots, a white, sleeveless chestpiece together with a long white skirt which had a blue stripe at the bottom.

The situation is, for those of you who are confused, is that Ellen has lured Viola into her enchanted house using her broken, innocent appeal. With this, she gained Viola's sympathy up to a point where Viola was willing to give up her own physical body for a day just to make Ellen a bit happier. But Ellen tricked her. After performing the spell that exchanged their hosts, Ellen revealed to Viola that she intentionally removed parts of her body forcefully to make Viola suffer and despair as she died. And now, after a series of events and a dangerous trek through the witch's house, the two encountered each other again.

Ellen was of course delighted at her new host, but this was not the time of enjoying it. Viola has emerged now to take revenge, one way or another. In fact, it was obvious that since Viola had no idea how to accurately use magic, and that the cat demon was not loyal to her, she would seek retribution in the only way she knew: by killing Ellen. But Ellen was not keen on failure. It was the final trial after all this madness. After trekking through her own house because of Viola's treacherous intentions towards her, this was not where she wanted to fail.

Ellen started to run out of the room and through the hallway towards the stars. Bloody hand-shaped marks kept appearing on the wall, and objects broke as she ran along. Viola was not too far away along the way. As she reached the stairway Ellen quickly began to run down, while a pot of flowers loudly fell of the table there.

Viola, in Ellen's original mangled body, exhibited both surprising speed and frightening strength. All she could do was use her new, sickly body's two arms to drag herself, yet she was almost as fast as Ellen, who now had Viola's body. Perhaps it was Ellen's magic that drove her to such a spectacular yet horrific display, but it might have been the immense amount of pain and fury. The pursuit was tight. Right as Ellen got into the cook's room, multiple bloody marks loudly splashed on the wall.

The objects of the house now also seemed to have turned against Ellen, with chairs attempting to obstruct her way and random cracks appearing out of nowhere on the floor. Ellen ran through the large dining chamber and to the farther door. After that, she headed eastward until she reached the intersection with the clock at the north. She went to the north-east room, and to a closet. Quickly snatching the knife, the cunning witch was almost caught by Viola, but she barely managed to avoid her and run to the entrance. She quickly towards the entrance, and succeeded in opening the door. The light of the outside greeted her suddenly, but smoothly.

Time itself seemed to slow down after Ellen had exited the ensorcelled mansion. To her honest surprise, Viola could not be heard banging on the closed entrance door. She even checked back on the door, but it was tightly locked. Her best guess was that the house was split between who to obey, and maybe this was its last loyal act to its true mistress. Deciding not to ponder, Ellen went forth. It was misty outside, with wind blowing along. On the way she stumbled upon a letter and decided to read it. It was immediately familiar to her. It seemed to be the former half of the letter she had gotten before venturing into the mansion. It had the following on it:

 **"Dear Viola,**

 **I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday. There's an old legend that says a witch lives in the forest, and kidnaps children who get lost there.**

 **Your friend's house is very near the forest, so... I was worried about you. Your friend's name was Ellen, right? I don't..."**

 ****"What a great, loving father." -Thought Ellen. She had a bitter feeling about this though, as it also reminded her of her not-so-nice parents. Images, memories from the old times began flashing in her mind. The witch however could easily shake them off though, as she was feeling triumphant due to her brand new body.

Before she could continue on however, she heard a noise that even frightened her, a witch. A sort of scream that eerily resembled that of a woman's, but it was frighteningly deep and otherworldly. It came from the house. Ellen went back to see it, and apparently the noise had a good reason. The previously glorious witch mansion had gained a new, terrifying look. It was red and purple all over, but in a pattern that made one think of an area of the human body twisted and warped by malady, dirt and violence. This made much sense, given the situation, since Ellen's body was directly linked with the house. The decay and torment Viola went through now affected it probably. This is something that we will never know for sure.

Not wanting to risk giving Viola a chance at delivering a surprise attack, Ellen ran as fast as she could towards the great rose bush that blocked the road. She poured the cute little bottle's contents on it, making it wither and dissipate. The wind stopped blowing, and rain came instead. Finally freed from this bond, Ellen ran further along the forest path. It started to rain heavily, and the massive cloud indicated that the heavy rain might turn into a thunderstorm very soon. There was strangely no noise besides the rain however, which made Ellen feel nervous and alarmed. After running for about a minute, she decided to look back to see if anything was coming, but she wished she didn't.

Just in that moment a thunderclap roared, and she saw the horribly mutilated Viola crawling up to her menacingly. The legless girl tilted up her head to stare at Ellen with what was once her pair of eyes. Although they were empty and bloody, Ellen could swear that Viola could somehow see with them, as she saw small, dull crimson lights in the eye sockets. It would make sense if this was the case, given that Viola had a magic-imbued body.

Viola tried to say things to Ellen, but it only resulted in gurgling and other such noises. Ellen could easily guess though, the tricked girl was probably asking her body back, and demanding all sorts of things. But Ellen did not care. Viola served her purpose, and now she was but a disturbance waiting to be eliminated and removed. Having enough of this chase, Ellen decided to take matters into her own hands and get rid of Viola.

"Boy you're stubborn." -Said Ellen, while plunging her knife into Viola's right eye socket. This knocked Viola back a bit, and made her gurgle more.

"How long are you going to chase me? You know that body won't last long." -She paused for a few seconds and continued after some thinking:

"Hm? Give it back? No way. This body hurts much less."

"You gave it to me in the first place. Why should I have to give it back?"

Ellen leaned closer to her mutilated victim, and took on a wide, sarcastic smile.

"Right...Viola?"

This sentence hit like a thousand hammers. As if nature itself was abhorred by Ellen's wicked joy, the mist around the two girls became visibly thicker, and a slow, but strangely deep and loud wind picked up. A thunderclap echoed in the background. The air got a lot colder, almost unnaturally cold for this time of the season. Acts of us humans leave memories and imprints on objects and places we encounter, and this was one that one can be sure nature will never forget, even if it would never be able to tell.

"You felt so sorry for me. I couldn't even move from my bed." -Continued Ellen;

"That's why I used my magic to trade bodies with you."

"Just for a day? Heehee... I guess I did say that."

Ellen stopped here for a bit, giggling over her sentences. Now, when she was gloating over her opponent, her joy of victory intensified. She continued moments later:

"I was surprised you could trap me with my own power... but to no avail."

"After all, it's my house yes? It wouldn't be killing me anytime soon."

"I was guided by that house all the way, so I was ensured to escape."

Another pause. Viola made a few pained growls, which alerted Ellen a little. The mutilated girl was twitching while holding herself up merely with her two hands. It was so unfair. For days, Viola had treated Ellen with utmost friendship, and cared for the sick girl. And then, when everything seemed to be happy, she was suddenly betrayed. And now she was here, her life stolen from her, trapped in a body which not only inflicted her immense pain but was rapidly falling apart.

Images, each more terrible than the other started racing in her mind. Her father...together with her "daughter". Ellen laughing and having fun at the expense of a stolen, tortured life. Her stolen life all changed and brought to a who-knows-what kind of end. Also, memories from Ellen's body began to appear to her. Ellen's miserable life in the slums, the black cat, the slaughter of Ellen's family and the unknown amount of time which Ellen spent as a wanted, murderous sorcerer.

This all got worse with the pain she felt everywhere. It tormented her unspeakably, and she had no chances of pouring this into was here all alone in this cold forest with her utterly mad false friend, tortured, and turned into such a horrifying sight that anybody who saw her would surely think she is some sort of aberration.

"Still not dead? I have to applaud your tenacity." -Ellen continued with her taunting;

"Ah could it be...are you that worried about your father?"

"Oh I know. You and your father Viola. A close family of two."

"Those memories stayed in your body. He's a kind man. A hunter isn't he?"

"And he even sent you that letter. What a good father."

"So then I suppose you're worried about what will happen when you're gone?"

Viola reacted to this noticeably, with a loud hiss and a series of gurgles. She spat a large amount of blood on the ground before her, and now she was basically in a pool of her own, or rather Ellen's, blood. Ellen gave only a brief giggle in terms of attention, and she continued to gloat and taunt Viola:

"It'll be just fine. I'll give him Viola's share of love."

Ellen said the last four words with a sly, slowed down voice, for the sole purpose of making this even more painful to Viola.

"And I'll take her share of love too. So..."

"Viola!" -Called a third voice. It was of a man, and he was not that far away. Ellen looked back and saw the man, and his sight made her even more confident. It was Viola's father, Travis. He was quite well-built, with rough brown hair and clothes typical of a hunter, and of course a rifle that not only sounded but looked dangerous. After a slight pause, Travis and Ellen ran to each other, and embraced each other for a moment.

"Viola are you safe? Are you hurt anywhere?" -Asked Travis; He was not aware of the body-switch situation, making this all the worse and darker.

Ellen walked to Travis' side and grabbed the man's hand. Travis immediately guessed from Ellen's startled look and her behavior that something was out of its place.

"Wh-what? Why…?" -Travis asked, not understanding the situation;

Ellen started pointing towards the north. Travis questioned the gesture in his mind, but the answer came soon. Viola started slowly crawling towards the two, apparently the strength she previously displayed was gone now. The mere sight of this was heart-breaking. Viola desperately drew on everything that was in Ellen's body, but even this was barely enough to move. Every single stretch she made with her arms was a world of suffering. She was leaving a thick path of blood behind her. Despite the many enchantments inside Ellen's body, the massive physical damage was starting to catch up.

"Fh... fha...aa...th.." -A garble was all that came out of her mouth.

She kept crawling and crawling, with a last, hair-thin hope of being able to speak to her father and make him understand...just a few words...just to make this clear...to fix this...

...dh ...dha...di" -Another garble.

"S-STAY AWAY, MONSTER!" -Shouted Travis on top of his lungs, intending to protect his dearest from the impending threat, if anybody could a call a helpless, disabled, muted, and perhaps blinded dying girl a threat. Travis loaded his rifle and aimed at Viola. Viola's heart was shattered ultimately. Now she knew that her last hope was gone. The rifle in Travis' hands clicked, signaling that it was ready to be used for its dark purpose. Ellen, intimidated by the weapon, stood back quite the distance.

But Travis not get the chance to pull the trigger. Just as he was about to do it, a mighty lightning came down from the sky. One of the lightning's side branches hit him, knocking him unconscious. The lightning was neither of magic, nor of any intervention. Just as Ellen's encounter with the demon back in God knows many years was of unfortunate chance, this was a twist of fate purely of chance.

Travis fell on his stomach with a loud poof, and his large rifle was on the ground. Viola did not know what was happening, as her condition kept getting worse and worse rapidly. What she could understand however confused her. A moment ago her own father was ready to shoot her dead, but the shot was not coming. Maybe the lightning did something…

Though Viola did not realize this, she guessed the exact truth. Ellen however, was displeased. Travis could have done Viola in, and that would have been it. But no, accidents have to happen and delay events just for some more inconvenience. Viola's torment did not concern her at all, she was just simply annoyed with how this fiasco refuses to end.

Wanting to put it to an end herself, she went to the unconscious Travis and tried to pick up his rifle. Though it was a bit heavy, her new body was strong enough to lift it up. And because Viola's experiences also stayed in her true body, Ellen did not have that much trouble getting to know the weapon.

"What a bummer...well Viola, you might think now that this little coincidence will save, but just you wait...I will kill you myself if your father does not."

"Wait my little. You are doing it wrong." -Said another voice, a soft yet disturbing voice that sounded both close and distant.

Just when that line was heard, a black cat appeared next to Viola. It had void black eyes, indicating that something was out of place with the animal. And indeed this was the case, as this cat -or rather its corpse- was possessed by the very same demon that Ellen was guided and taught by for quite a time now. It casually and slowly walked up to Viola, and sniffed at her heavily bleeding body.

"Hmmm…delicious. -Said the demon- Not just the blood, but what is happening inside. This massive suffering. I have felt greater before, but I must say you did a good job Ellen. My little witch. But do you not remember what I taught you before?"

"Shut your mouth. -Answered Ellen, with great annoyance in her voice- I no longer need you. Now that I am free of that wreckage of a body, I will be able to live a life of my desires without your help, or the help of any other demon."

The demon laughed loudly in response. Maybe it had something in store for Ellen, or maybe it did not. Viola was confused by the conversation, which was just another small addition to everything which made her suffer. She decided to conserve her decaying body's strength by lowering herself and letting herself just lie there...in that pool of blood. Viola did not care, as she needed all the strength to buy herself time. Maybe someone might come to resolve this...someone...anyone…

"Brave words." -continued the demon- "But all I wanted to tell is that you should have let the girl die to her pain instead of shooting her. Souls which died of suffering make much better meals, but I am surprised that out of all people you are the one who failed to realize this."

The black cat gave Viola some licks, and it seemed to enjoy the taste of blood. Or, given that it was actually a demon, it might have sensed something else with its possessed tongue. Maybe the demon could literally lick Viola's soul...this is something you best not ponder about. There are things which even demons hide from one another, fearing that they might frighten each other away, preventing any dealing of -in their twisted way of course- friendship.

"And I am surprised that out of anyone in this world, you would fail to realize how sick I am of this. -retaliated Ellen- Taunting Viola a bit before her father came was enough. Now I want to put an end to this, kill her, and take her body as my rightful prize."

"Ahh...very good." -continued the demon- "Still as straightforward and ruthless as you ever were. Well, if you really want that I will not stop you. Just do me a favor and keep her alive a bit more to make her suffering act as sugar on my meal. If anything, gluttony is a sin I love to commit."

The rain around them kept falling, and Ellen was somehow hypnotized by it. She thought about what the demon said, and she remembered something. Suffering is actually sort of contagious. Seeing somebody else suffer made the witness suffer as well. She thought about her parents. They gave her a lot of sorrow, and in death, as spirits might be all aware of this.

Maybe they are enjoying it, maybe they are ignoring it, or maybe they are full of regret. Ellen was satisfied with all of these. For if they are now spirits who linger, they are going to see just what they have unleashed upon this world. It was their fault Ellen became what she is now.

Therefore, every single person that Ellen has murdered, tortured, or imprisoned in her long past as a witch, it was also indirectly their fault. This meant that if there was some sort of force that watched over and judged people by their deeds in life, her parents might receive a judgment so heavy that it will cause them pain more than Ellen could ever imagine.

And in a dark way, this made Ellen very happy. Revenge is what she wanted upon her parents for a long time, and now she could deliver towards them as much as she wanted. One of the nearby bushes rustled a bit. It attracted Ellen's and the demon's attention for a moment, but both were so filled with glamour that they turned back on their current business.

"Fine...fine. I will give you some time. -Said the former witch- At least I can watch her despair even more...this will serve as vengeance for my parents. They will see what they have wrought and when they do..." -Ellen put on a wide smile- "...they will despair far more than I ever did."

"Dark wisdom Ellen. -Said the demon- You have learned well. After all...you had an excellent mentor. And I have to tell you, you do your best when you are cruel and dark like this."

"I swear you are the worst when you try to feign kindness and praise. Just shut up and be glad I still do a favor for you." -Ellen responded.-

The demon simply took this as a minor, meaningless insult. Ellen was arrogant because of her victory now. When the time comes, she will be taught a lesson. A lesson which will even break and chain her dark soul.

Viola was now between life and death. She could barely hear or even feel everything. What's the time...is even time still flowing? She could not tell. All she heard was blurs of noises and humming. Everything was slowly becoming empty. Even these noises faded...but after some time, she did not know how much, she heard a sequence of noises which she barely recognized… it was the sound of a gun.

But it was somewhat different. Viola was used to the deep, bellowing sound of her father's hunting rifle which took its time between shots. What she heard then had a higher sound, and seemed to fire in a repeated, quick succession. She also heard a man shout, but her state made it seem like a distant echo trapped in time.

Viola felt the sensation of being touched and lifted, with the last of her strength she could guess that the man she heard was doing something to her. At that moment, everything faded to black. 

In the forest around the Witch's House: 

Bushes rustled and the wind blew as a person rummaged through the wet foliage. It was a man in his late thirties, but a hardened and solemn man. After some time of speeding forward, he decided to sit down for a bit under a huge oak tree. Now that events have took a short step, time for a description:

This man looked somewhat older than how old he actually was. He was of medium stature, but of a sturdy build. He had deep brown eyes which reflected years of hard work in soul. His complexion was hardy, but it also had a tinge of kindness on it. His skin was mildly tanned, and visible marks of past bruises were scattered here and there. He had a brown crew cut, paired with a short, but strong brown beard.

He wore clothes that made him look quite tough. A dark brown coat with a black shirt under it which had four pockets, two of which contained different items. A pair of black, thick pants and a pair of black boots fortified by a little steel on the inside, though just enough to not cause major discomfort. He was also wearing a pair of brown gloves, and a wide fur hat adorned with a hammer symbol made out of gold. He was carrying a gray bag on his back, and a sub-machine gun with a drum magazine and an outlandish design.

His clothing of choice was not by accident, as the weather seemed oddly cold today. While he was sitting under the oak, he noticed an item in the of the side pockets of his large bag, a small book which was locked. The lock on it did not seem to be an everyday occurrence, because of its design. It was pentagonal in shape, and had two keyholes on it instead of one.

It was made out of smooth black metal. The man carried this item for a long time now, but he never found out its true purpose or nature. The history of this item, although important, shall be explained later. All he knew is that it had the name "Meryl" on it.

As he was tinkering about this, a scream bellowed in the air. It was of inexplicable nature to him, all he could decipher is that it was inhumanly deep and it seemed to be coming from something supernatural. He quickly regained his energy because of this, and started going even faster towards the place which he knew as The Witch's House.

This was an event that he anticipated for hours now. As memories from the past bursted out, he became even more dedicated to his objective than ever. Images of a group of people...one in particular stood out. The person had a strange appearance, and the others were frightened of the figure.

But the man whisked away the memory. This was not time for remniscience or nostalgia. After a few minutes of running, he saw the forest clear up in front of him. He heard the shouting of a man, and only moments afterwards a lightning came down from the skies. He was not sure about what was going on, but nevertheless he quickened his steps.

Soon, the forest cleared up some more, and the image of a path emerged. He stopped under another oak, and used the great tree's canopy as a cover from the rain. Dropping down the bag and getting out a pair of binoculars, he watched the path.

What he saw was almost what he expected. He saw four figure there, with one of them being much smaller than the other three. A man lying on his stomach, a blonde girl standing and making gestures towards another girl who was lying on the ground...in a horrible state. Next to her was a black cat. The man was witnessing the scene of Ellen, Viola, Travis and the demon cat.

These were the moments when Ellen and the demon had their short discussion, after Travis has been struck unconscious. The man picked up his bag and carefully went in closer. He could now overhear the conversation.

"What a bummer...well Viola, you might think now that this little coincidence will save, but just you wait...I will kill you myself if your father does not."

"Wait my little. You are doing it wrong."

Slight pause. The man saw the demon cat walking up to Viola, and form this he could already guess something was bonkers here. First off, the cat was talking. Second, the girl it was approaching not only had an uncommon appearance in general, but Viola's state made him wonder even more. What in blazes has happened to her? Did that blonde girl do this? She might have...given that she was just promising death to the purple-haired one.

"Hmmm…delicious. Not just the blood, but what is happening inside. This massive suffering. I have felt greater before, but I must say you did a good job Ellen. My little witch. But do you not remember what I taught you before?"

"Shut your mouth. I no longer need you. Now that I am free of that wreckage of a body, I will be able to live a life of my desires without your help, or the help of any other demon."

That wreckage of a body...those words made the man think. So apparently the blonde girl was not in her original body, but she stole one. But how did this relate to that ghoulish-looking girl a bit farther? Maybe...that is her original body? It made sense him, as the word "wreckage" fitted Viola's state perfectly. More past memories came, again of the same group of people, before they faded as quickly as they came. He began suspecting that these two girls were related exactly in the way he suspected.

"Brave words, but all I wanted to tell is that you should have let the girl die to her pain instead of shooting her. Souls which died of suffering make much better meals, but I am surprised that out of all people you are the one who failed to realize this."

"And I am surprised that out of anyone in this world, you would fail to realize how sick I am of this. Taunting Viola a bit before her father came was enough. Now I want to put an end to this, kill her, and take her body as my rightful prize."

The obscurity of the situation faded, and the man realized many things. He took a warning to himself that it might be only theory, but he began to build up a hypothesis of his own concerning the situation. That man on the ground was "Viola"'s father, and that "wreckage"-trapped girl was "Viola", whose body was stolen by that other girl.

But what was up with the cat talking about "meals"? Did it mean that mutilated girl? And what is the relation between the cat and that body-thief? A moment passed, and now he had a theory in his mind for that as well. If the blonde girl was in fact a body-thief, then the talking cat was either a malevolent spirit she formed a contract with, or some other kind of spirit which somehow knew the girl.

"Ahh...very good. Still as straightforward and ruthless as you ever were. Well, if you really want that I will not stop you. Just do me a favor and keep her alive a bit more to make her suffering act as sugar on my meal. If anything, gluttony is a sin I love to commit."

"Fine...fine. I will give you some time. At least I can watch her despair even more...this will serve as vengeance for my parents. They will see what they have wrought and when they do...they will despair far more than I ever did."

"Dark wisdom Ellen. You have learned well. After all...you had an excellent mentor. And I have to tell you, you do your best when you are cruel and dark like this."

"I swear you are the worst when you try to feign kindness and praise. Just shut up and be glad I still do a favor for you."

Dark wisdom...yes, it was clear now that the blonde girl, who is apparently "Ellen" was in fact in cahoots with the cat...thing. The way they talk to each other, the things they say, it all made sense now. "Ellen" was an occultist of some sorts, and that blasted cat was her familiar. The man loaded his sub-machine gun with strange, blue bullets and put some oil, a lighter, and a wooden cross in his large pockets, and ran into the scene.

Thunder roared in the background as the man got behind Ellen. She turned around hearing his heavy footsteps, and saw him for a moment. The man bludgeoned the girl with the stock of his weapon, and although he did not know for sure, the blow was not fatal. Ellen was merely knocked unconscious, and now there was only the cat left. Purple, luminescent haze began to gather around the black feline, and it face the man.

"WHO ARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU COME BETWEEN ME AND MY MEAL? EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

"My identity is none of your concern infernal wretch! All that matters is that you will have to find another meal for yourself, if you get the chance to do it at all!"

He fired some of the blue rounds at the cat, wounding it. A distorted, devilish scream came from it.

"GAAHH...WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE?"

"This is none of your business either! But do not think I will wait for you to catch up just for the sake of drama!"

At that moment, he took out his wooden cross, poured it into oil and ignited it with his lighter while covering the objects from the rain by hunching over them. He threw the blazing cross at the demon, which was repelled by it and with a loud, deep meow the demon's host gave its last breath.

The demon's true form, a purple haze, formed above the man, but it could not come closer. The fire from the burning cross turned a white color, and began circling the demon, until it went farther away.

"This is not over mortal! You might have taken my delicious soul away from me now…but I will remember this. I shall take another witch under my wings, train her to be a true instrument of pain and death...and hunt you down."

"I'll wait for that! It is enough for me that I have shown today that mankind is not defenseless against the likes of you! Now begone!"

With one last howl, the purple haze went away into the distance, not to be seen again. The man immediately turned to Viola.

"Can you hear me? Can you still feel anything around you?"

Viola only reacted with a gurgle...but that was enough. The man picked her up, ran back to the bushes to pick up his bag and carried both Viola and the bag back to his hideout in the foot of a rocky mountain, just bordering the forest.

"Do not be afraid. I will help you. Surprising as it might sound, this is not the first time I have seen the supernatural manifest itself. I will do my best to get you out of this madness. And if I fail, I shall take the responsibility of your death up with full acceptance."

END OF CHAPTER 1 

_Well guys, this concludes the first chapter. I'm going to clear some things now:_

 _-I kept the name Travis for Viola's father because that is supposedly his name in the original TWH works_

 _-I left this chapter in that early cliffhanger because there are some things I seriously need to think over to not mess up the story later_

 _-The next chapter will be a cartload longer_

 _I hope you enjoyed this story of mine, judge it for yourselves, and thank for reading. :)_


	2. Deux:A Meager Beginning

_REVENGE IS NOT A SOLUTION...OR IS IT?  
_

Chapter 2: A Meager Beginning 

Dreams and Visions, Viola's point if view, early evening:

After the events of the first chapter, things continued on with a hectic pace. Ever since, Viola dreamt for a long time. Her dreams actually told her many things. They were visions from the past life of Ellen, each giving her a detailed view of the different parts of the events which laid down the road for Ellen's occulthood.

Everything started with Ellen being tended by a woman, who Viola assumed was her mother. Then a man came home, who Viola assumed to be her father. She soon noticed that the father was completely ignorant towards Ellen, not even acknowledging her presence. This sequence of events repeated for perhaps years...Viola could not comprehend how long.

One time however, something changed. Ellen met a black cat, which Viola immediately realized was the host for the demon back then which Ellen made her contract with.

Yes, Viola knew this. Just as Ellen gained Viola's memories and experiences, the same happened with Viola. The only thing Viola has lost by now is Ellen's magic, since that was in reality dependent on the demon, whose contract with Ellen was over. All the things the demon taught Ellen and was of not magic however was preserved.

Viola's visions continued. She saw Ellen burying the black cat's corpse, and then she saw what she guessed to be the final spark in Ellen's unholy start of darkness. Ellen's parents lay on the floor of their ramshackle house dead, with both them and the entire house burning. And what happened next was chaotic.

A speedy, long dream full of different images about Ellen's time as a witch. That other demon taking the shape of a crow. It was the fiend that kept getting Ellen's medicine, and one time, it and the cat were fighting. It seemed to be treating Ellen in a smug way. But this was nothing compared to what Viola saw next. Ellen's many victims... and the two times when the magic keeping her in a seemingly healthy state was foiled.

And of course the times when Ellen met that boy. Viola now knew she was not the first person to be a victim of Ellen's innocent allure. Finally, she saw her own encounter with Ellen. The first days when she tended for the witch, and then that dreadful day when Ellen left her, and she at last saw the pursuit, and that fateful evening when Travis, her own father, almost took her own daughter's life.

And the dreams that came to Viola after these were about others. People unknown to her completely. She saw a village surrounded by a lush forest, not too dissimilar from the one she used to live in. The people living in it seemed to be in distress, and they were gathered together on the richly decorated town square...except for one family.

A family consisting of six members stood in a big, beautiful house on the outer parts of the village. They were quite suspicious though. All of them seemed to be much richer, and they seemed to be almost literally bathing in luxury. Their clothes, their house, and everything else they had reflected luxury.

But what made them suspicious is an animal that accompanied them.

As if it was a callback to the cat and crow demons, one of the family members, a young boy, was holding a black hamster in his hands which had the same kind of void eyes Ellen's black cat had. Viola could understand that it was probably a demon too...so they could have been an entire family of contractors.

Another skip. She saw the temple of the village. It was a simple building with nine small towers, each with a different bell in it. Then the view slowly went towards the large window of the central building and shifted into the large central chamber. It seemed that the people of the village had gathered within it.

A gray-robed man stood in front of a gathering, and he seemed to be desperately calling for aid. The people were either praying with him, or discussing matters with each other hastily. Viola guessed that the man was a priest who prayed for the assistance of the deity he believed in, and that the people with him were hoping to resolve the situation with the divine help their priest was calling for.

Then a small group bursted into the room, and the crowd started fleeing in panic. Viola could only see that there were six figures at the door, probably that suspicious family she saw earlier.

Another skip. This time, Viola saw something that is difficult to describe. It seemed to be a path made out of radiant light, adorned with shades of colors that would be difficult to name even for those experience with colors because they were so numerous. It seemed to be in a black, open space. The scenery around it looked stunning.

There were buildings of alien shapes, Viola could not recognize any of them. It could be most accurately described as a city that seemed to be literally made out of light, and some sort of crystalline material.

But the focal point of the dream was a figure. A man-like figure clad in glowing white came close to Viola. After coming close enough, he stopped for a moment to pray, and then he turned towards Viola. He summoned a beautiful mirror adorned with unknown amounts and types of gems, putting it in front of Viola, and saying the following words:

"Gaze unto this mirror, and see for yourself the form you haveth now. But do not be caught in the web of despair, for ye shall be restored, and if ye will prevail in soul in the events to come, many shall rever what thou hast done, and by thy actions, souls shall be saved from the wicked, ancient shadow."

Viola saw herself in the mirror's glass, but not how she imagined she looked like based on her suffering. She basically saw Ellen's body, being engulfed in radiant silvery light. She saw a myriad of wounds, being mended by this very light. And at that moment, the sound of a bell bellowed...and Viola woke up from her dreaming.

At a hideout in the mountains, Viola's point of view:

Viola woke up. She was caught in a series of strange sensations, all of them different. First, she still felt pain. But nowhere near as much as she felt before. The pain in her chest has subsided almost completely along with that in her throat, while the stump of her legs and the sockets of her eyes still ached badly. She could however actually comprehend things around her, something she was very glad to be able to do.

She could hear, smell, and feel with her touch. She was still weak though. The immense pain she had to endure not only wounded her spirit, but also placed upon her new body great fatigue. She was going to need loads of time to recover, but at least she now had major chances of survival.

Finally having a degree of freedom, she decided to try and understand her situation, using whatever senses she has right now. In terms of noise, a lighter wind could be heard blowing around casually, giving a basic ambience for the place. Clanking of different objects, noises made by what Viola assumed were leather goods could be heard.

The air was lukewarm, and from this Viola guessed that she was either in somebody's home, or a place of warmer climate, perhaps in sunshine during the morning. Nothing seemed to be wrong though, the noises were calm and ambient, and the air had a very good smell.

Trying her hands out, Viola felt that she was on some sort of cloth-covered object which was quite warm. Turning her head left and right carefully, she began noticing different scents. Some of them were familiar, they were scents of flowers, some of which she had seen and home, and some which she had seen in the wilderness. What she had as a body worked decently, and Viola was glad to have this much.

Soon however, Viola began to hear footsteps and faint voices. After a minute or so, these sounds came closer, close enough for Viola to listening to what the people were saying. She could hear two men talking.

"What news about the girl Brother Lucius? Could you help her?"

"Yes Richard don't worry. I did what I could now. She is no longer doomed to die...though her disease and the missing body parts will require the attention of more than one Brother." -Answered 'Lucius'-

"Right...her disease. Could you identify what is it? I tried all the medicine I had but they did not effect it the slightest." -Asked 'Richard'-

"Unfortunately, not entirely. What I could get from it is that it is not natural. My best guess is that it might be from some sort of curse. Though the demonic energies I sensed circling within the girl could also be the source."

"Demonic energies? How much are they still active within her?"

"Not too active luckily. They seem to be rapidly fading away. In fact, I can still sense them becoming weaker and weaker. Soon she will be clean of them. Sorry Richard, this is all I could have done on my own."

"Alas, I am already thankful for your help brother. You know this girl could mean much to all of us. I promised her to save her life and..."

"I know Richard I know, you take your promises seriously. But calm down for now, and take your share of rest. The girl will also benefit from it if you can approach her with a collected, calm mind. Remember. Faith, loyalty, hope. These three hold the soul of a person together."

The "Richard" figure sounded very concerned, while the other one, Lucius attempted to remain calm and peaceful. She could not understand why did this "Richard" called Lucius "brother" though, as the latter mentioned multiple "brothers". Maybe it was a habit among the people of these two.

"Thank you Brother Lucius. When can I expect your help?"

"To be honest I do not know myself...I tried to identify the soul of the girl, and while doing so I have found a discrepancy within the essence patterns of her soul and her body, which means that we must take great care."

Viola, although bittered by the memories of the previous events, was happy that she was among people who were on the right track to find out what happened to her. Though she was suspicious, as she did not know these two. And besides, she did not understand what did 'Lucius' mean under 'essence patterns'.

"Well, that just confirms what I have suspected. You do remember what I told you about the demon and the one who I believe to be a body-thief?" -Spoke 'Richard'-

"Indeed I do. And the more I think about it, the more it seems that body theft _is_ what we are dealing with here. I will counsel with my brothers and give it some thought. The girl should be able to speak now, but take it easy. Her trauma inflicted quite a blow on her spirit, so she might be shocked to speak." -Said Lucius with genuine concern-

"Don't worry, I will be very careful with her. Do you think you and the other brothers can handle her, or will we need the assistance of a doctor?"

"As much I do not like saying this, we will need a doctor. Not only will this lengthen the process, but it will put everybody in danger. But if what you have told me about this girl is true, we might be able to end this madness for all of us...and for that, risks are worth taking."

"Good to see that already she is given much assistance and hope. Thank you. I will question her about small things then and keep it cool. Farewell."

"Blessings on you Richard. Farewell."

Footsteps were heard, and they quickly got more and more distant. Viola in the while processed the conversation, at least what she could understand of it. Her main question about what she heard is that "madness" that "Lucius" mentioned. What did he mean under that? Was she, a tormented girl such a big concern to him and those he knew that he thinks it is "worth to take risks" for her? What is this all about?

Viola could not understand anything of this. All this, together with what she saw while asleep spawned a mass of questions in her mind. She tried not to think hard though, as she wanted to give herself a quick and sure recovery.

Viola heard steps again, and she also heard a door being closed. This alleviated the noise of the wind outside, now it could be only be heard in a deepened, damp way. The steps then kept getting closer, until the they were very close to her. Viola heard someone stop and take his place near her, she assumed it was "Richard".

"Well...I do not know where to start. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Richard, and this little hideout is my place of living. I make my life as a hunter, and a protector of my village."

Viola reacted by opening her left palm, lifting it up, and weakly waving. Though she could not get the direction right, Richard was glad for this reaction.

"If you have not guessed already, I am the one who got you here from that mess in the forest. The man you heard speaking with me is a monk. He and his brothers, together with the people of my village have some experience concerning supernatural things."

Viola thought for a few moments...she did remember hearing someone shouting back when she was barely awake back in the forest...where she would have almost certainly died if not for Richard. And now calling Lucius "brother" also made sense. So far the man was not hiding anything...but Viola decided to wait.

"I do not ask you to trust me, you have every reason in the world to be careful now. I do fear that the two people who I saved you from might come for you one day, and your new connection with me could also put you in trouble with some similar folks."

'Similar folks' -thought Viola- She could not think of anybody right now who she knew to similar to Ellen...or could she...she could. At that moment, Viola remembered her dream about the six-member family and the black hamster. An entire family of occultists? Could they be the "folks" Richard was talking about?

"Your condition right now is still bad, but it is orders of magnitude better than it was. You have been sleeping for three days now, and Brother Lucius worked tirelessly to save your life. You will most likely be visited by some of his brothers though, and a doctor will also tend to your condition."

Nothing new except for the sleep part. Three days...that is a lot of time. Viola wondered what could have happened with her daddy and Ellen ever since. She decided not to give this attention now. She was glad that Richard still does not hide anything. Maybe he was worthy of trust...but maybe not. She decided to wait a little bit more.

"You are safe for now. If you want to know anything just ask me and I will tell you whatever I can. If you feel it is difficult to speak for you then I won't mind if you remain silent. You recovery is the most important thing now."

The man really seemed to be honest and trustworthy. And after what he said, it would have just fair for Viola to say some things too. She decided to speak up. Though saying words was indeed a bit hard, she could utter some short sentences.

"M...my name is...Vi...Viola." -Said Viola weakly, but understandably-

"Nice to meet you Viola. Viola...I heard this name before. Are you from Alvielia?" -Answered Richard-

"Y...yes...Alvielia. W...what about...you?"

"I hail from Olveria. It is a village like Alvielia just beyond the mountains where we are now. Nothing that special actually. One of the major trade routes of the country is nearby, but that is all. We are a largely spiritual community. We believe in the supernatural, and we have observed it for a long time now."

"W...where are we now?" -Speaking was becoming a bit easier for Viola.

"We are in the Ams Mountains 5 miles from the house where that fiasco with you and the witch occured."

Richard gave his words lots of thought. Viola was in a horrible state, and he assumed that she was quite frightened. He decided to keep answering Viola questions for now without asking any from her, to help her recovery and to gain her trust.

"Why...did you save me?" -Asked Viola.

"Because it is the duty of a decent person to save those who he can. After Brother William, one of Lucius' fellow monks alerted me to the commotion that was going on, I immediately went there to check on the situation. And when I saw you in that terrible state of yours, I just had to interfere."

"But...how did you know who to save?"

"It might sound unbelievable, but I could guess. From what I heard coming out of the blonde girl's mouth, I knew something was wrong with her. The way she...gloated about what was happening and the casual way she treated that infernal fiend was an obvious sign to me that it was you who needed help."

What Richard said sounded believable to Viola. Besides, she was not exactly in the position to complain about her means and circumstances of rescue. She was glad that the man guessed the right thing. Viola felt that now she could open up a bit more towards her rescuer, though she still wanted to be careful. The timing was perfect for this decision, as the sensation of hunger and thirst hit her at once.

"I...I need something to eat and drink."

"Hold on then, I am going to put you into a sitting position. Do not make sudden movements and focus on letting go of your weight. You need all the strength you can muster."

Viola could hear Richard stand up and walk behind her. She felt something warm wrapping around her, and she felt being lifted up. She was carried like that for a few seconds, until Richard gently put her down into a what Viola assumed to be a large chair, which also felt like it was covered by a kind of cloth. Overall, it did not burden her that much to be sitting. The pain in her chest was gone now, and her stumps and eyesockets were a lot calmer.

"There you go. Now I'm going to get you something. Most probably tea and vegetables, as judging from your state you need to take it easy for now."

Richard walked away, and Viola guessed he walked to the place where he was keeping his rations. To be honest, she DID have to take eating easy, as she remembered that Ellen's body had a very sensitive stomach due to her disease. After some time, Richard was coming back to Viola. The girl heard the sound of something being dragged towards her.

"I got you a small table that you can use now. -Richard informed Viola- I have put some food in a wooden plate on the table. Feel free to touch around, I chose some things which people eat with their bare hands. Eat slowly and chew carefully. I got you some carrots, a slice of bread, half a tomato and an apple. Not much, but if you feel you need more just tell me."

Viola was glad to have even this. Last time she was awake she was condemned to a painful death and eventually to be devoured by a demon, and now she is safely having a meal, even if a small one. Like Richard instructed, she started to reach around with her hands, trying to identify pieces of her meal. Luckily she worked much with her late mother in the kitchen and later with her daddy, so she had a keen sense of finding things based on their smell and surface.

Travis taught her to find things based on these two because he felt that Viola, who was interested in hunting, might someday need to find her way around in darkness. Little did he know just how tightly did he pinpoint his daughter's needs. She began with the apple, as she knew that eating apples before the primary meals was healthy due to the fruit's acidic nature. She then continued with the carrots, and finished with eating the slice of bread together with the half-a-tomato.

"Do you steel feel hungry? Just tell me. I will get you more right away."

"No...but I need something to drink." -Answered Viola.

"Right away. You are going to get some water. It is the best for you now."

Richard went away, with Viola listening to what he was doing. The turning of a wooden object, pouring of water, then silence. His footsteps knocked loudly on the floor as he came back with the cup of water.

"There you are. I got this one from the barrel where I keep the lukewarm water. Hold out one of your hands so I can give the cup to you."

Viola did as asked, and took the water from the man. She carefully manouvered it to her mouth, and slowly drank it. The cup itself seemed to be quite large, as it took quite a time for the girl to drink it all even with taking her slow pace into account. It did wonders for her though, her throat immediately felt better and above all, she was now neither hungry nor thirsty.

"Thank you. You did so much for me...even though..."

"No need to explain yourself Viola. I already told you the reason of my motives to assist you."

"But you also said to that monk friend of yours that I could mean much to you...what about that?"

"I won't hide any details from you. The point is, me, the village I live in, together with Lucius and his order have been involved in struggling against the supernatural for a long time now. What I thought about is that you could be a valuable asset in our struggle, and that we could ask for your help. I will not even try to persuade you to join us, and neither will anyone else among us. This is solely your decision."

Viola took it as a positive sign that Richard did not mind the fact that she knew something she could only do so by overhearing his conversation with Lucius. Also, he sounded serious about letting this be her choice only. She was surprised to meet such honest people, but she was also deeply grateful for it.

"I do not understand. How could I help you with this?" -asked Viola-

"The fact is Viola, the witch you got involved with might be related to a certain group which is the source of our troubles. Not just in our village, but practically everywhere in the country. Now this is something I will not explain for now, as I told Lucius I will keep it cool with you."

'Practically everywhere in the country'. Viola was more than appalled to hear this. So she was but one among who knows how many victims caught in the web of such dark schemes, perhaps many of them far worse than what she had to go through. She could not bear to think about that. And also, even after all that has happened, she did feel bad for Ellen.

Though her anger about Ellen's recent betrayal still casted a thick shadow over this, she was still deeply sorry for Ellen, especially after witnessing her life through those dreams this night. Viola started giving this lots of thought. Assisting these people would give her a small chance at not only saving Ellen, but many others as well.

It might feel strange, but Viola did grow a personal attachment towards Ellen. For Viola, Ellen was a living testament towards the fact that humanity is being poached by malevolent forces, a testament she herself has seen and contacted...and one that partially became her.

Above all, this seemed to be her only shot at regaining her original life. She was abhorred by the very concept that what is left of her family and everyone she knew are being deceived by Ellen, who herself can be only brought to sense by a lengthy quest of recovery and treatment. As much she was intimated by the weight of all this to come, Viola knew that running away would be infinite times worse.

"I...I have...I have decided I will help you."

Viola expected Richard to be surprised, and boy was he surprised!

"SERIOUSLY? Viola...this is something that can cost many things, starting from the quality of our lives to our lives themselves. You stand at a difficult crossroads. Once you dip yourself into this case, there is no going back due to just so many things that it would take loads of time to explain. Are you really, truly sure about this?"

"Yes Richard...I'm sure. I will need lots of time to tell you everything too...don't worry about that."

Viola took on her face a smile. Thanks to some bandages on her empty eye sockets, there was much less to spoil the smile.

"I barely believe you Viola...your bravery and determination already seem great to me. Well if you really wish to assist us, than welcome aboard. The first step in our doings is something we would have done anyway. Me and some people I know will help you recover in the best ways we can. It might be a long and painful process though."

"That's okay. I have my reasons to join you, and you all seem to be decent people."

"Thank you for thinking that. It is almost miracolous for me that you were so quickly eager to help us out...especially given your state."

Viola heard Richard move a few things around, she guessed it was the small table and some other stuff. And then, she felt being picked up again.

"I am going to put you back on the small bed which I quickly made. It is a crude piece of furniture really...some wood and a thick piece of cloth."

"It does not matter Richard...I slept well on it."

"Good to know that. Oh by the way, now that you mention sleep, take one advice from me..."

The man paused with the sentence while putting down Viola, then he sat down next to her and then finished.

"...pay much attention to your dreams and try to remember them. People reported that nowadays, an unusually high amount dreams were some sort of sign of something in reality which actually came to pass."

"I will try do to it...Richard...what will happen now?"

"You should do well and get tons of sleep. You will need every ounce of strength within you to keep on going."

Richard did not have to say twice. Viola quickly fell asleep, almost frighteningly quickly. At least now that Viola was asleep, he could get some rest too.

-In the forest around the Witch's House, Ellen's point of view-

-Nine hours after the events of Chapter 1-

Ellen woke up with a heavy headache. Her attacker hit her head hard with his weapon..."Curse that bastard!" -Ellen thought to herself. She slowly got on her feet, feeling dizzy. After balancing around a bit to get into a stable position, she quickly checked out her new body. There were no wounds on her legs, chest, and arms, but the mud she lay made her very dirty. Ellen carefully tried to touch the back of her head to feel just how bad it was...and she wished she didn't. The moment her finger came upon her head, it hurt immensely for a moment. When she saw her finger, there was blood on it. She became furious at the sight of this, but the intense emotion just made the pain worse.

Deciding to try and keep calm, Ellen decided to look around. It was dawn, and the Sun was coming up. The forest seemed to be quiet, and there was not any rain or wind. No animals were loitering around either, so she was alone...with Travis. Viola's father was still lying on the ground out of reality. Ellen did remember that it was a lightning that knocked him out so badly. This was not good for her though, as she needed his help to get around in the village and with her new life in general.

"HEEELP! SOMEBODY HELP US!" -Cried Ellen into the distance. No answer came though, and the silence was not broken after the echo of her call faded away. Ellen waited for around a minute then cried out again.

"PLEASE! HELP US!" -Again, nothing.

So other were not coming, but her crying out did good. Travis slowly started waking up and getting in touch with things. He slowly stood up and gained balance, and saw Ellen standing in front of him.

"Viola! A thousand blessings, are you alright?"

"Yes daddy...I'm alright". -Ellen did recall that Viola always referred to Travis as 'daddy'. So far so good.

"I don't understand. Where is that monster? Did somebody drive it away?"

Ellen did not answer, not knowing what to tell Travis.

"Viola...I know that you are scared but please tell me what happened! That thing might come for you, and it's better if I know what I am up against."

"It...it was a witch daddy. The witch who the rumors told us about."

"Really? So...she does exist. Call me crazy, but after what I saw yesterday I believe you. I mean...she was horrible! What kind of sick and twisted person would to something like that to anybody? Crazy occultists...those would. Not just to others but even themselves!"

Ellen felt a stinger inside. It was HER who did all this to her, and by the sounds of this, if Travis ever found out the truth in any way it would be the end of this new life. She had to quickly think up something...and what came to her mind was a reversal of what actually happened.

"Alright daddy, I will tell you everything. But only after you took me home...I'm scared to be here."

"It's OK my dear. I understand. Let us go home the...my God what is that on your head?"

Travis darted to Ellen, and took a look on her wound.

"Who did this to you Viola? Do you remember?"

"I don't know daddy...I do not remember how did he look like. But please...take me home!" -Ellen feigned crying. She was quite good at acting actually, after the times she spent as a witch.

Travis did not try to argue with Ellen, as he did not want to make the wound worse, so he took "his dear" home. Their journey home took a lot of time. Ellen had difficulties because of the blunt force trauma from yesterday's assault, and needed Travis' help to walk. After around three hours of walking, they finally got home.

"ALVIELIA" -The sign at the village border greeted them with its big white letters and dark brown wooden base. Travis carefully helped Ellen walk along, and the people around them soon noticed their distress.

"Hey Travis! What happened to your girl?" -This was the voice of Reginald, the village's mayor. He was a kind man towards the villagers, and they liked him as a leader. He was an elderly man in his late sixties. He wore elegant clothes befitting his position, and a pair of large glasses which added more to his already serious face, which was adorned by a pair of deep blue eyes and a wide mustache.

"I myself am confused about that. I think she was attacked by someone, but poor Viola is too scared and shocked to speak more now. I'm going to take her home to rest. After I got her to sleep I will come over and tell you what I know OK?"

Reginald narrowed his eyes on the two, and opened a small book which was in his hands.

"Alright Travis. I will tell the men that Viola has been attacked by an unknown perpetrator. We'll keep watch."

With that, the old mayor went away towards the town hall, a big building made out of stone. It had two towers on it, with one of them being a bell tower for attracting attention, and the other being for storage. It was an old building, but well made and sturdy. It was not particularly decorated, but it still managed to be beautiful. Reginald went to the entrance, a double door, and went in.

Travis and Ellen continued onward to home, and soon they were questioned again. Travis kept telling the people the same things he said to Reginald, and he got a bit impatient after doing so. He asked the people to give them some rest, and after half an hour they finally got home. Ellen sat down on the first chair she could find, in the middle of Travis' and Viola's living room. Travis soon spoke to her.

"Alright Viola. I thought things over and I decided to let you rest for now. Clean yourself, get dinner, and then go to sleep. You are going to need it."

"Okay daddy. What will you do?"

"I'll do the same as you, except I won't be sleeping today. I'll go inform Mr. Reginald about what happened to us, and I'll get some men with me to go inspect the forest. Be well Viola."

Travis walked into the bathroom, and began doing the washing.

"Yes daddy I will…-Ellen put on a wicked, wide smile after she turned around-...I will be good. Teehee."

Ellen quickly looked around to find Viola's room, and went in. Fortunately for her, Viola's memories served her well, and she quickly got the grasp of what to do, how and where. But she quickly realized that things will be exactly the smoothest. She may have had Viola's body and memories, but she had her own personality.

She had different tastes, wishes, a different system of morality, and different views on the world. As such, she had to act out Viola well, or else Travis and everyone else will get suspicious very quickly.

And she had to do this for the rest of her life. And she could only "change back" very slowly and gradually, so she could make the others think that it was just Viola maturing in a way they did not expect. But then something started bothering Ellen. She started thinking back to when she awoke in the forest in the morning, as she felt she did not pay enough attention to something while being back there. She thought for a bit, and then she realized what was it. Her original body was not there where she knew it was.

And at that moment, another wave of thoughts hit her. This could mean two things. Either the demon devoured her, or her attacker took Viola away. Given Ellen's general negativity, she took the latter as more likely. This meant only one thing. Viola could get the support of anybody who is skilled in the supernatural. And so, she could somehow spread news about the truth or worse, get her body back and THEN spread the news. This was unthinkable. Ellen quickly started thinking about what to do, but then…

"Travis! Sorry for intruding, but Viola's injuries need discussion. She can stay, but you must come with us."

"Right officer Mr. Brent. Viola! I am going with the civilian guard and the mayor to discuss your attack and begin the search. Be good!"

"Alright daddy! Take care of yourself!" -Responded Ellen.

Heavy and numerous steps were heard, and the group went away after a few seconds. It took Ellen great effort to get back into concentration, but she got back into it soon enough.

Viola had a chance at recovery, and this threatened Ellen's new life. The former witch could not bear with this at all...but she could not think of any method. Assassination is impossible, since Viola is likely well-protected now. So with her own hands, there was nothing she could do. Asking for an assassination would blow her cover very quickly, or at least make people think that "Viola" has gone crazy, since if Viola was saved, she probably had her physical state restored.

Which meant that Viola could just act innocent like Ellen did before even if the people would believe that Ellen is sending them against a monster. Blaming and telling lies were the last things Ellen thought about.

But what would she tell and to who? She had absolutely no idea about the location of her original body, and what exactly happened to it. Besides, making a web of lies is not an easy thing. Ellen started to doubt herself, and tried to think more optimistically this time. Maybe Viola is off dead, and there was no saving. Maybe that attacker who she remembers died to the demon, and the black cat had a double meal at best...or at worst.

Her thinking was interrupted however, as her wound on the back of her head started aching nastily. Ellen slowly went down into the kitchen, and started looking for medicine. Luckily, Viola's house was of simplistic -but also pretty- design. A typical village house with folk-styled decoration. As such, she had an easy time finding the container for medicines. Ellen found some herbs and tea, which she guessed the village people use for sickness instead of industrial-style pills and such.

As she reached for one of the herbs, a massive wave of pain hit her head, which compelled her to start smearing it with the herbs themselves as they are. To her surprise, they immediately started neutralizing the pain. Though it was not gone, it was now bearable. She took a look at some more of those herbs, and she saw that they had weird, white and purple berries on them. On the basket that they were in, there was some text:

 _ **'Gors Berries'**_

 _ **'Named after the Gors mountains where they grow, these special berries are very fast painkillers. Excessive usage will result in falling into a shorter coma however, so caution is advised. Strangely, the stem which they grow on also contains some of its serum, so using an entire stem is a sure way of getting overdosed. Be warned, because as quickly as this plant cures, the coma from an overdose will start just as quickly.'**_

This was no good news, as Ellen did just that. This was impossible! How could she have not remembered that? Viola's experiences were with her after all. Perhaps this was something Travis never showed to Viola, in order to prevent her from getting overdosed.

She had no time to think, as the coma started kicking in. Quickly as it cures, it puts you into sleep just as quickly.

Two and a half days later

Ellen slowly woke up in a soft, large bed. She was thankful for two things at the moment. One, for people falling for her facade enough to care for her, and two, for having a dreamless sleep if maybe a long one. It was strange though, as dreamless sleep is rarely heard of when somebody sleeps for very long.

Ellen did not care for this much though, she was much more concerned with what was happening around her. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw two people in front of herself. An old woman, and Travis.

The two were talking, and they did notice her waking up.

"Thanks for your help Ms. Martha. Viola did have a dreamless sleep right? You know what our old tales say...having many dreams can cause confusion and loss of reality sense."

"Yes, yes Travis I know it is good that you remember what I taught you. And I do hope that you keep these old pieces of wisdom!"

"I knew I should have hidden those berries better. I never showed them to Viola so that she would not overuse them, but I guess she is becoming both more curious and clever. She is now sleeping her third day. I hope she is alright."

"Don't worry hunter boy. -Ms. Martha had a wide smile on her face- these berries are only lethal or sickening if you eat loads of them. Given how they knock you out even if you only eat a small overdose, that is highly unlikely. Besides, they grow very slowly and only during the winter."

"Well, I'm going to check...Viola?!"

"Da...daddy?"

"Viola! Blessing upon everyone you're alright! We were worried when I found you sleeping and could not wake you up. Do you feel anything bad?"

"No...I'm fine daddy. What about you?"

"I am fine besides the worry. Ms. Martha helped us though, using her amazing skills."

Ellen looked at the smiling old woman, and Viola's memories served her well again. She remembered from them that Martha was the old woman in the village who was very knowledgeable about herbs and traditional medicine. Even trained doctors sometimes came here for her advice, as she also knew some lesser magical herbs. She guessed that those Gors Berries were such plants. Martha spoke up.

"Ah, little Viola. At least you're a lot nicer now! That ugly wound of yours got better. Now its just an ugly bluish spot. Don't be silly and go jumping around like crazy though, or it might get as bad as it was or worse." -She finished with a short giggle.

Ellen put on a faint smile. As difficult as it was for her to believe, she felt genuine happiness. She was being cared for. Only such a minor thing has happened to her, and she was being cared for by not just one person but multitudes of them! She was never given such love before, and she felt great for it. But her darkened heart was not any better than before. She gained all this by stealing this life from Viola. Sad as it is, Ellen did not feel the slightest of regret still. She was still being triumphant over her newly gained prize.

"Well, Ms. Martha, I think me and daddy are going home now. Thank you a lot for helping me out!" -Ellen put on a wide smile this time.

"My pleasure little Viola! Just be careful next time. Oh, and it will be only you going home, as Travis has got business to do. But be good you hear me?"

"Of course Ms. Martha…see you both later then!"

"Goodbye little Viola!"

Travis came to her and hugged her. Ellen hugged back. Sweet, warm embrace. Not even her own mother gave this to her. Ever. This was getting better by the moment.

"Be safe Viola. I will be back by evening, and I will make you some tasty dinner. You will not have to go to school anymore, it is closed for now."

Ellen was surprised to hear that. Terms usually end in July, and it was still late April. What could cause a school to close so quickly? All the students leaving? Nah, that sounded stupid even in mind. It must be something else.

"Daddy, why is it closed?"

"Bad things are happening Viola. But ask no more, you are too burdened now to think about such things. Go home and rest some. I will come later. Now go!" -Travis let go of her, and then mildly patter her shoulder.

Ellen went out of the house. Opposite to it was a sundial, a beautifully built one at that. The time was half past four, approaching towards evening. Ellen started walking home, and contrary to what Travis said, she was not burdened to think in fact! The school business occupied her mind all day.

Viola's memories immediately told her about school and she was quite excited for it, but it is closed. What made her really think is that Travis said "you will not have to go to school anymore". "Anymore". That last word acted as a stinger. Did that mean that the school was closed for good? Did it close for good? Or perhaps…

"Greetings Viola. Are you better now?"

Ellen turned around, and saw that it was Mr. Reginald, the mayor. He looked quite concerned, and he still had his book with him.

"Good day Mr. Mayor! My head hurts a bit, and I am worried so...not exactly."

The elderly mayor raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes a bit.

"Worried? Could you explain that? Is it about the attack?"

"No Mr Mayor not just that, it's about school. Daddy said that I do not have to go anymore. Is it closed forever?"

"Not forever, but we do not know for how long. There are posters at the town hall which have information regarding all sorts of things. Go check out it, the notice you need is actually fresh. Take care Viola."

Reginald nodded, and Ellen did so as well. A silent goodbye, but a goodbye nonetheless.

She did as the mayor asked, and walked to the town hall. On the way she saw the everyday life of the people were. Some were working, some were relaxing, and others were having fun with music and tales. At the village nursery for example, she saw children centered around an old man, who seemed to be telling them some fairy tales. They all laughed and smiled, so it must have been a happy and light-hearted one.

At another house, she saw a middle-aged man teaching his son the usage of different tools. And at another one, she saw a middle-aged couple decorating their terrace with flowers. Overall nothing complex or city-like. After such sights and a few minutes of walking Ellen got to the town hall. She soon found the poster sign, and began searching among them. Notices for lost items, lost pets, advertisements for services, ah-ah! Ellen found it, and her face went ashen. What was on it was not what she expected. 

**' _Government orders all_ _lower-age_ _education facilities closed in_ _G_ _aha_ _l_ _n County:_**

 ** _' Mass children kidnappings and murders of school personnel in the recent days has caused t_ _he county_ _officials_ _to suspend schedules for all educational facilities that teach_ _children between ages 6 and 18, and all people below the age of 20 are forbidden to leave their homes alone.  
_**

Ellen was now frightened a bit. As a former witch, she knew some things that these officials might do not. She knew about demons, sorcery, and many shady things which they do to people. She did kidnap and murder loads of people in the past. But then she realized she has nothing to worry about right now.

Even if somebody somehow finds out who the murderer is if it happens to be her, it is of no consequence. After all, she and Viola switched places ever since. Though this school business was bothering her. Who knows, she might not be the reason this all is happening. And another witch is the very last thing she needs right now to cause trouble in her new, amazing life.

Ellen suddenly felt her right ankle being tickled a bit. She looked down, and saw the source. It was a big, brown cat. It meowed at her, and gave her a long look with its yellow eyes. Ellen was overwhelmed, as she liked cats from the very beginning. The brown cat acted friendly, and Ellen felt that this is friendship at first sight. It did remind her of the black cat though, which left some bitterness in her. She embraced the cat, and decided to bring it home. It purred to her sweetly, and just generally it seemed to be a very friendly cat.

Neither Ellen, nor the village people had any idea what was coming however. This was but a calm before the storm. A storm that might come slowly, but when it comes, its thunderclaps will shake the foundation of the very earth. 

_END OF CHAPTER 2_

 _-Well, as the title suggests, this is a meager beginning._

 _This chapter has LOADS of original content, I will tell a few clearances now:_

 _-I decide to stick with names I invent, and I will make up places and such._

 _-This will be only done to anything that was not specified already in TWH._

 _-If you still see something like this, alert me and I will fix it._

 _I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I welcome criticism and opinions :)_


	3. Trois:Hope Horizon

_REVENGE IS NOT A SOLUTION...OR IS IT?  
_

Chapter 3: Hope Horizon 

Ten Days after Chapter 2: Dreaming, Viola's point of view: 

Viola fell into a long slumber again. After her first meal and short conversation with Richard, she fell asleep quickly. This time, she had only one dream around the end of her rest, but that was a huge leap in her destiny.

The dream was something she partially recognized. She saw the city of light again, where she dreamed about the robed figure, the mirror and the bell. Except this time, things were different. The lights in the city were less bright this time, and there were different things happening all around. She saw what she speculated to be a group of worshipers marching in a single line slowly, all while being caught in prayer.

The prayer they were saying sounded like a slow song, Viola could not understand what they were saying. The color of the light-path they walked on changed between short periods of time, and floating torches began to appear alongside the path, making it a dim, but beautiful dance of colors.

Suddenly, a white light came below Viola. It expanded itself into a rectangle that displayed patterns which were constantly changing. She was caught by this astonishing sight, when suddenly, the figure wearing a white robe came again. He clasped his hands together, bowed his head and prayed. After that, he turned towards Viola and spoke up.

"Welcome Viola, witness of the works of shadow. Do not host fear in yourself, you are safe here in your sleep."

Viola was surprised. She heard the voice of the figure clearly, almost as if this was real. She could also see him clearly, again, almost as if this was real.

"You must be surprised why I do not speak to you in the old fashioned way I did last time. I was told to speak in the more modern way you do to not confuse you."

The "man" came a bit closer to Viola, and he did a weird gesture with his hands. A surge of light appeared between him and Viola, from which two glowing spheres came out. One of them was gray and gave out a pale yellow light, the other was black, and it glowed with an eerie, crimson light. The black one seemed to be flickering, as if something was trying to make it disappear.

"As you were told by your fellow man, you have to come a crossroads. Now that your soul is concentrated here in your sleep, I can test you."

TEST? What kind of test? Viola did not understand. Neither Richard, nor the monk Lucius mentioned any sort of test before. Is this something that perhaps Lucius and the other monks are doing to her? Is this a spell? What is this place? Who is this robed person?

The robed figure looked upwards for a few moments, and then turned back to look at Viola.

"I received word. You can speak now. Your slumber will not be disturbed until we are finished."

Viola felt some sort of shudder run through her. But the sensation was...ethereal. It felt like it happened, but in a way she could not describe. She suddenly felt relieved and relaxed, but there was a bit of tension in here. Having the ability to...apparently 'speak' in this dream, Viola decided to question this person.

"Who are you? What is this place?" -There was worry in her voice, which the figure noticed.

"As I said, do not host fear in yourself. You are safe here. As for me and this city, I will explain. My name is Gadavithe. I am a...servant of a higher power. This place you see before you is actually a place in the real world. Normally, mortal beings like you cannot reach this place by any means. This is why your vision through your soul has been directed here while you are dormant, and thus undisturbed."

Gadavithe summoned two chairs, and he sat down on one of them. Viola felt herself being made to sit down on the other one. Like this, she and Gadavithe were sitting opposite to each other.

Viola had a tough time understanding what she was told. A place in reality...which she cannot reach...but her soul has been directed here, while she sleeps. Or the vision of it at least. She decided to question the weird figure further.

"Why did you bring me here? And why me? There were so many others..."

"You were brought here to be tested. And you were specifically chosen because you had such a close and intense experience with the works of the dark forces, that barely anyone else could live to tell the tale of such a close encounter. And even despite these horrific events, your soul still shows much strength. Most people who were attacked in such a way collapsed spiritually and turned just as bad or worse than their attackers. Others were either killed or heavily crippled. You on the other hand, survived with a strong soul."

"I am sorry sir but...you are wrong. I am crippled myself. My attacker, a former witch called Ellen, mutilated her own body then switched places with me. I cannot walk or see, and I...I am very angry with Ellen. You have no idea-"

Viola did not finish the sentence. As soon as she mentioned Ellen, the seething anger that she told Gadavithe about indeed took place. She could feel herself reel and become intensified with anger, but then, something soothed it. It was conscience. And also, what Gadavithe said. 'Most people who were attacked in such a way collapsed spiritually and turned just as bad or worse than their attackers.'

"You see? Already what I said affects you Viola. -said Gadavithe- Search deep within your heart and soul. You know that walking the same path she did will just make this worse. You cannot fight shadow with shadow."

Viola however was stirred again. Shadow, the same things Ellen did to her, and to many others, these were exactly the things that she would be glad to give Ellen. For tricking her...for stealing her body...for stealing her life. In a completely unfair way. Without Viola doing anything truly bad. Viola expressed this to Gadavithe:

"That girl...she stole my life. She stole everything I had! And for what reason? I never harmed her! I was loyal to her! I was a friend to her! And I did not even tell you about my family...what is left of it...and my friends! Ellen is going to twist my image in their minds around into who knows what, and I cannot even think about what will she do to the people-"

Viola's outburst was interrupted. She started shaking, but not out of anger. All of a sudden, the "ground" around her was shaking as well, and the black sphere emitted violent red sparks. The ground stopped shaking after a minute or so, the sphere became transparent and calm again, and Gadavithe spoke.

"Do not be seething with this hatred Viola. You should know already that Ellen was hit by misfortune early in her life. And this misfortune was exploited by dark powers. All this happened in times when Ellen was barely even...alive suffice to say. She could barely live her life. She barely knew anything."

Viola remembered. She saw all things related to this the last time she was dreaming. She saw Ellen's mundane life. The slums...her drug addicted father...her mother who eventually came to abandon her. The cat. Oh...that blasted cat. If only Ellen never looked out the window that fateful evening. So early in her life.

What a pity! A small decision that caused an enormous avalanche of evil that has left behind itself a mark that will probably remain forever. And Ellen was not even ill-meaning with the cat. She just simply buried it out of respect. Upon thinking about this Viola was even more astonished than before. Who could have saw that such a small act of good will could become an enormous wave of wickedness and injustice?

And then...Viola was hit by a realization. This was no accident. At least not entirely. Ellen's encounter with the cat could have been dumb or bad luck, but she felt that there was more to Ellen's path of darkness than what met the eye. Now she understood how could she help Richard and the others. As someone who had a close encounter with Ellen and survived it, she had a good understanding of the poor girl.

Combined with this was the fact that she had Ellen's body, and with that, her memories and experiences. All while retaining her original personality as Viola. And since Viola was not suppressed by all kinds of trouble ever since she was small, she had a chance at using Ellen's horrible experiences in a more objective, reasonable way.

And this very batch of information could also be used as a starting point and basis in case Viola and the others encounter more people like Ellen.

Her thinking was interrupted. She looked at Gadavithe, and then at the two spheres that he conjured. The black sphere with the red light was now flickering even more, and it seemed to have become almost invisible. Gadavithe spoke up, and this time, he sounded much happier.

"Very good Viola. Treasure these moments. Not only will they provide you with the means of assisting your friends, but it will be the key to further salvation."

"Further salvation? What do you mean?" -asked Viola.-

"That is something you must find out for yourself."

At that moment, the dream became blurry. It shifted to another image, a much weirder one. Viola saw a blur of colors, mainly gray and green. She also saw some blurred dots of dark green, but she could not even guess what they were. She heard loud and slow chanting, much different than in the city of light. The dark green things were surrounding her, and there was a weird sensation running throughout her body. Suddenly as this came, suddenly did it go away. Viola was once again sitting with Gadavithe.

"What was that? What did I just see? Did you show me something?" -questioned Viola, being very surprised.-

"No. What you saw was a glimpse of what is happening with you. Devoted followers of the higher power that I serve are currently in the process of repairing the damage your body sustained." -answered Gadavithe.-

The monks! It all made sense to Viola now. This was their work. They are calling upon higher aid to restore her both in mind and body. No doubt, Lucius was also among them. But did they know about this dream? About Gadavithe? About the city? Viola decided to ask the strange figure:

"Gadavithe...do they see what is happening here? Do they know that I am talking with you?"

"No. All they know is that the higher power is now helping you. And as I said before, I am a messenger of that power. Those monks are devout believers of the same."

"Higher power? What higher power?"

"He is somebody who was with you all along. Just search in your soul. You will know who I am talking about. If not, fine. You will understand once. All that matters is, know that you are not alone. There is always somebody to assist you. Even when hope seems to go away, you will not be left for evil to take freely."

Viola, although she could not understand all of this, was happy to hear such things. It happened so quickly, and it initially seemed too good to be true, but it was true after all. Not only humans like her, but some sort of higher being was also on her side. This made her think back to her life. She and Travis always lived a just and fair life. Travis always taught her to be strict, good and diligent.

"Thank you Gadavithe. I-"

"It is not me who you must be thankful to. I am but a messenger of your true savior. You will understand in time." -Gadavithe interrupted Viola, with some sort of strange strictness in his voice.-

"Alright. But there is something I wanted to ask you. -continued Viola- What is exactly happening, how did I get into these events? Who and...or...what is causing this? The dark powers, the witches and all that."

"Malevolent forces who prey on humanity. Due to your spiritual capacity as humans, demons and their ilk have a penchant on preying on you. Seeing as only a few among you are capable of dealing with them, they are mostly successful. But you, the few who are strong enough to deal with them, can not only defend yourself, but you can also teach others to defend themselves, and to protect others as well."

"But what is my involvement in this? And, what is exactly happening?"

"Patience. All I can tell you is that there are many people out there in your country who already exploit demonic or otherwise evil forces. Your country is the most prominent in these evils, but if not stopped or inhibited, it will eventually spread."

Gadavithe changed his position in his seat and then continued with a lowered voice:

"You know well that this must not be. Your involvement is brought here by your close experience with Ellen the former witch. As for her, I must tell you that she was not the worst foe you will meet in your life. There will be one even worse."

"Who? Don't tell me...will my new allies or my father be turned against me? Some other witch or occultist? Who are you exactly talking about?" -Viola was full of surprise.-

"Someone who is...also a great victim of the vile workings you were caught within. And who served as an indirect tool in the forming Ellen's madness."

Gadavithe's answer was strange, as he had a noticeable tone of worry in his voice as he said this. And Viola noticed this. Ellen's mention however stirred something up in Viola again. Anger caught into her again, but with nowhere near as much strength as before.

"Ellen...what should I do about her? She still has my life stolen! She still is deceiving possibly everyone I know!"

"I know this must be extraordinarily difficult for you. -Gadavithe quickly answered.- The suffering you went through could even break some of my lesser comrades. And that is a huge thing to say. Viola, this will all depend on how do you direct your actions towards your new allies and your current, and future enemies. You might get your life back, but you might also ruin it even more than Ellen did now."

The black 'sphere' with the red light was now violently flickering around, and lost its even, spherical shape.

"On the other hand, you could also save OTHERS as well. Just imagine. You get your life back, and you could also set Ellen on the right track. Would that not be the best? To cease the destruction she weaves and give her a chance to do the reverse? To make her atone and make up for what she had done? Possibilities are almost endless."

"Set Ellen on the right path?!" -Viola was astonished at this hypothesis.-

"She murdered and tortured multitudes all for her own selfish goals! How could I, somebody who she has defeated in the past persuade her to change her views? She probably expects me to be either dead, or plotting against her. Because that is as far as she can think! I saw her life in my dreams… and I kno-"

"And you know that deep inside she did not like any of this demoniac fiasco. -Gadavithe's replied strictly.- Through the one I serve, I get to know much things myself. Think back Viola. Think back to what you saw."

And indeed, Gadavithe said the truth. Viola did remember seeing Ellen and the cat demon having disputes with each other, and she also recalled the feud between the crow demon and the cat demon. Not only that, but whenever she recalled a memory of those times, some sort of 'outer' disgust also hit her. It was 'outer' because she could feel it, but it felt like it came from somewhere else. Her best guess was that Ellen's body retained its triggers from the past.

"You...you are right. -answered Viola.- But still, how could I persuade her to stop with what she is doing now and change her ways? I cannot think of anything."

"You will be able to come up with something. -Gadavithe reassured Viola.- You came this far Viola, it is not your time to fail. You have the support. As I said, it all depends on how you direct your actions. You might share any memory or experience, but only you have the understanding necessary to see this through."

Gadavithe suddenly stood up, and gave a long look upwards. He also gave a short nod towards that direction, and than turned back to Viola.

"It is time. You shall soon wake up now. Prepare yourself. Your journey has just begun. For now, you have received a part of the blessing you need to set off in this quest."

The sound of a bell could be heard. Viola felt herself being pulled in a direction, and the images of Gadavithe, the marching figures and the city faded slowly. With her last glance, she saw the two spheres in a black void. The gray one with the pale yellow light now had a bright light, while the black one disappeared with a red flash. Viola had only one guess what this meant...and she felt this will make her very happy upon waking up.

Viola wakes up, the view switches to Reality: 

The first sounds Viola could decipher after the slumber was the ending of a song. It was different from the one in the city of light, but quite beautiful nonetheless. She could hear it slowly losing volume, and then silence.

At that moment, Viola did something she did not expect to do. She opened her eyes, and for the first time in what seemed to be half an eternity, she could finally see what was going on around her. She was in a stone chamber which was dimly lit by torches, and she was surrounded by robed people, about thirty of them.

They were all wearing the same kind of simple, dark green robe. They were kneeling on the chamber's floor, and were surrounding her in a circle. The chamber which they were in was also circular, with a large metal double-door being the exit and entrance to it. Beautifully carved pillars held the ceiling, ten of them to be precise. The walls themselves in contrast were plain and simple.

After looking around, Viola realized something. She just got her sight back, but she had no problem using it. At least so far. She guessed it might have been because of the dim lights, or because the great effort the monks have put into calling the blessing upon her.

Viola was very happy. Merely some time ago she was doomed to die, and now she is regaining more and more of what she had lost. The monks bowed themselves before her, but they said nothing. Viola guessed that silence was an expected thing in here. Putting this aside, she began to think. The chamber and the many monks indicated that she was in some sort of sacred place. Her best guess was that it was their monastery.

The monks returned to their sitting position, except for one. One of them stood up, and slowly began to come closer to Viola. Now that he was closer, Viola noticed that his clothing was different, though only a little. There was a marking of three white keys etched into the hood of his robe. She could also make out a long, white beard flowing down his clothing. He came quite close to Viola, about 3 meters away from her. He sat down on the floor, and then spoke to Viola.

"Peace be with you Viola. Do not make yourself too excited, you have just woken up from our healing ceremony."

He turned his a head a bit upwards and called out.

"Brothers! Leave the two of us alone for now. I shall talk to this brave youngster about important matters. Make sure no ill force can have understanding of this occasion."

The rest of the monks stood up and one by one, they left the room. The last to leave carefully shut the large door behind himself, only leaving behind a small echo. The elder monk turned back to Viola.

"I know your name because Richard told me about you. You know who he is I take it?"

"I do. He is the one who saved me from Ellen's former familiar." -Viola's voice was calm this time as she answered.

Viola decided not to hold back. After her meeting with Richard and the dream, she was now confident about her new friends. Seeing how this person was presumably the leader of these monks, she decided to be polite and straight-talking.

"Thank you for what you have done for me sir. I am in your debt. But, may I ask a few questions?"

"Ask as many as you would like Viola. -answered the elder.- You need all the help you can get now. First though, let me introduce myself. I am Paltor, Elder Brother of the Order of Three Keys. Me and my honorable pupils are holy men who seek to assist those in need, and this is our monastery. And now, how can I help you?"

"Oooh...I have lots of things to ask but let me...OW!" -Viola tried to stand up, but she ended up falling on her stomach. Paltor quickly went there to help, and got Viola into a sitting position again. He invoked a pale blue light in his left hand, and used it to heal Viola's small wounds and ease her pain.

"Don't be hasty. You have nothing to actually stand on yet." -said Paltor, while finishing up with Viola's bruises and getting her back down in a steady posture.-

"Wha...what?" -Viola was appalled.-

"Yes. For now, we only restored your sight and cured your disease. It was a death curse unlike any we have seen before...most likely the work of an experienced demoniac."

"The disease? Wait...if it was some sort of powerful curse, it must have needed lots of effort to remove. If you could get rid of that, why not restore my legs also?"

"Exactly because of what you stated. It was a powerful curse. Your legs will be restored later for two reasons. First, we monks do not have infinite power, we do require rest. Especially after such a difficult ceremony. Second, both you and your soul require large amounts of rest after this ordeal. The curse is lifted, but the burden it inflicted still needs time to fade. Just imagine how much does your body want to rest and heal now that it has been rid of that sickness."

Viola could understand this. No person has infinite capacity, even the more powerful have their limits. And the second reason, well it did make a lot of sense. Too much of something can do bad things, and Paltor did make a good point. While Viola was thinking, the elder monk sat back on his original position.

"You are right. -said Viola.- Sorry if I sound ungrateful, I'm just surprised by this. Believe me sir, I am already very thankful for doing this much. Now, where was I...ah yes, I have lots of things to ask."

Viola collected her thoughts, and she put her questions in a coherent order.

"Alright. Then if you won't mind sir, I am going to ask about. How did you know what was going on at Ellen's house at all?"

"Pardon me for asking now, but who is this Ellen? You haven't told me anything major about her yet."

"Umm...alright sir, I will start from the very beginning. Is that alright?"

Paltor responded with a short nod. Viola collected her thoughts, took a deep breath, and then retold the story:

"One day, I was walking in the forest. Whilst doing this, I stumbled upon a large house which later turned out to be a witch house. There, I met a girl called Ellen, whose body now I have."

"Mmmhm...so Richard and Lucius were right. That girl stole your body."

"Yes. Now, when I met Ellen, we became friends...sort of. I felt very bad for her, and I decided to tend to her. Her sickness put her into a terrible state. I frequently visited her, brought her stuff and I talked with her very much. I did not know then that she is a witch!"

Viola sighed deeply. Now that she was retelling this to somebody else, the memory seemed a bit less bitter. She guessed it must be the fact that someone else now gets to know the truth at last, and she really did value the nicer moments with Ellen deep down.

"We were in quite good terms actually. -said Viola with a faint smile.- She was always nice and patient, and she seemed to be very educated and knowledgeable for a little girl of her age...she couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 years old! I was comparably happy with her and she was very appreciative of my tending..."

Viola's face went ashen at this point. The previously nice memory was overcasted by what happened next.

"Then one day...everything went horribly wrong. I visited her as I did usually back then, and her sickness was even more terrible than usual. Little did I know of the real thing...so, I went to her again. I noticed that she was covered by a blanket, and that she had her eyes concealed with cloth. I did not suspect anything at this moment. We talked, and that is when things went this way. I felt so bad for her that I was willing to give her my body for a day. She knew a spell which required mutual trust to be performed, and I was stupid enough to trust her."

Viola's expression was now one of fear and sadness. This memory was dreadful, and for the time being, fresh.

We did the change. And then…it happened. I was in her body. Blind. Bereaved of my legs. With searing pain. Ellen intentionally removed her eyes and legs solely to make me suffer as I die. I screamed like I was being brutally tortured. And as I did that, Ellen forced some sort of medicine down in my throat which burnt it and with it, she also took my voice."

Viola stopped to wipe away some tears from under her eyes. Her voice was shaky, but she kept on telling the story.

"Ellen then ran away. Out of her house. In my panic and pain, I somehow managed to block her path with a patch of roses I could control with her magic. She came back. She survived everything the house threw at her, and we met again. She was reading the last of her diaries as I got to her. Ellen ran , and I pursued. Through the house. She eventually got out at the front door. It was difficult for me to open it. By the time I caught up to her, she was already at the forest path outside. I crawled up to her. It was...a world of pain. With each passing moment it kept getting worse...I cannot even describe it..."

Viola had to stop again, this time there were a lot more tears to wipe away. Paltor now seemed really concerned, as he was searching for something within his robe, and sat a bit closer to Viola.

"So I got up to her. I tried to speak, but I could only garble like some sort of aberration. She started taunting and gloating how will she give my father my share of love...and how she will also take it. Then, daddy came. I tried to talk him too, but...you know. Then...he...he tried to shoot me. He thought I was a monster. I did hear some loud banging, but I did not die. What I remember after that is a blur. The next thing I remember clearly is waking up at Richard's hideout."

Viola now started weeping. Paltor got some cloth from his robe and gave it to the poor girl. Then he sat back down, and folded his hood back, so Viola could now see his face. He looked very elderly. His gray eyes reflected age and experience, and his expression was solemn, further enhanced by his long beard. And even in that dim light, Viola could swear that his eyes were in fact, teary.

"Viola my girl...out of all the tales I have heard from those that got assaulted by shadowy forces, yours is one of the worst. And when you consider the fact that I am over ninety years old, and that my order is centuries old, that is something impressive to state."

Paltor stood up, and walked towards the wall opposite to the double door. He pushed the stone wall on a spot Viola could not exactly pinpoint, and the sliding of stone was heard. The elder monk took something out from a hidden stone chest which opened, and then he closed the chest back. Bringing a small box with him, he sat back in front of Viola.

"Here. This will help you in your endeavors."

"What...is this?" -Viola had calmed down a little bit.

"Check it for yourself. It is easy to open."

Viola opened the box. Inside, there was a key, and a small gray book.

"Hehe...is this the key your order modeled its crest after?"

Viola giggled quietly, and Paltor seemed to be amused too.

"No, no. It could be but it is not. -answered Paltor.- The key and the book was found together in an occultist den. The key is obviously for the book, but for some reason the lock does not budge. We even scoured its essence patterns, we have the skill to do that, and it is for the book. Perhaps, you could try to open it?"

"I could give it a try. Though I do not see why I could do it if you could not."

Viola grabbed the little key. She was glad to find that moving parts of her body around did not hurt anymore. Though things were far from good. Her new body was still very thin and somewhat weak, and now that Ellen's demonic energies have dissipated, Viola could feel herself being a little, thin girl with a meek build. And of course, her legs were still missing.

Anyway. She inserted the little key into the lock and tried turning it. And behold, it did not open! The lock just gave a faint click, as if wanting to insult Viola for her useless attempt. Viola could hear Paltor sigh with disappointment.

"Weird...us monks tried opening it for quite a time. Even the former Elder Brother could not figure it out. And it seems, no luck with you either. I thought that with your exceptional soul, you could open it somehow."

"Well why would it open? As far as I am concerned I am nothing special, and neither is Ellen. I am a hunter's daughter, and she is a slum girl."

"Mmhm. Do not underestimate either of you. That fact that you two got through such a fiasco, probably both alive, must have some meaning behind it. Perhaps, you might have some ability that would force it open. Perhaps not. This is however for later! I recall you had a question."

Viola held the book and began to question Paltor...though what he said about abilities did pique her interest, she guessed he said that this was for later for a good reason.

" Well, yes. I was asking about how did you know about what was going on between me and Ellen."

"That is simple. -explained Paltor.- One of my pupils, Brother William, is our Watcher. You could say he is our scout. He uses his abilities of sharp far sight to monitor a vicinity around our monastery. To be honest, that house was in our sights for a long time, but we heard about most of its assailants being killed in worse and worse ways, so we decided to stay away, fearing that we might not be strong enough to deal with whatever was in there."

Paltor paused for a moment, closed his eyes in thought, as if trying to remember somethin accurately as possible. After a few moments, he continued.

"One night however, William told us that the house's magic seemed to be severely weakening. Hoping that we finally grasped a chance, we decided to take care of the occultist there once and for all. For this, I have contacted Richard, who, together with the people of his village Olveria, is an old friend of ours."

"Oh , I remember him and Brother Lucius talking with each other about this. And Richard did mention Olveria." -Answered Viola.-

"Good. And...well, you know the rest."

"Indeed. One more question now that you brought this to me. What is this gray book you gave me?"

"A magical tome which we found in a den of occultists that was burned down. It was a ramshackle hut, and the occult practitioners were all dead by the time we got there. Whoever was looking for it was not keen on negotiating with the inhabitants. But this is not the point. We did some research on it, and what we found was astonishing. Apparently, this book is one of the notebooks of the notorious black magician Edward Mervine. Did you ever hear this name?"

Edward Mervine...some sort of rich fellow no doubt. In the country Viola lived in, people preferred using first names only. Only richer folks used surnames, obviously as a marker of prestige. But the name seemed unfamiliar to Viola.

"If not, no problem. What I am about to tell you started six centuries ago. This is a story which we monks and perhaps a few others I do not know pass on to each other. There was the Mervine family. Once a rich family who were reputable and loved. People in our country, especially here in Gahaln, often sought their help for their needs. They would willingly provide to those who would need it, and they generally seemed to be a family of fortune and luck."

The elder monk paused to take a quick breath, and then he continued.

"Similarly to your 'friend' Ellen however, everything went wrong one day. They started to behave in a reclusive, closed way. Back then, they were odd among rich families, as even their more secret affairs were known, something uncommon among those of the higher class. At first during their change, people did not give them much attention, everyone simply guessed they became just as mistrusting and secretive as other rich families."

Paltor put his hands together on his left leg. His old face reflected thinking and the resurfacing of memories very old.

"But their reclusiveness continued to grow to a point where it simply became worrying. They would act like the typical arrogant snobs you can easily imagine. They started to think they were superior over us, and they soon started entire webs of scandals and scams to increase their own riches and power. Starting from orders like ours through the general people to the government -or back then, royal- agencies, they eluded the wrath of everybody. They were adamant about their own self-worth, and had an innate hatred towards us, 'lesser folks'. And nobody had any idea why for a time."

"They turned towards demons like Ellen did right?" -asked Viola.-

"If only the people of that time had realized so early as you did! -continued Paltor.- "Yes, they did do that. And by the time this got to be commonly known, their influence was beyond almost all control. The royalty, and later in more modern times, the government was hard-pressed to suppress their malevolent workings."

"That is until, a day came more than one hundred years ago. Suddenly, their house and the village it was near to caught fire, and it was burned down, suspiciously much like that ramshackle hut we found the book at. Ever since that, the Mervines were not heard of, instead, other occultists and such came along. Such as Ellen. Before that, they were active for nearly five centuries as the most prominent occultists in the country."

"But I do not understand. Why wouldn't it open? I mean the book. What did Mervine do to it? And...what exactly did you mean under me having an ability that would open it?"

"My theory is that he placed an enchantment upon it so that only under specific circumstances can it be opened. But who knows...these black magicians work in shady ways. As for the ability, I guessed so because, to be honest, it is uncommon for somebody like you to be so audacious after suffering such an attack. But we talked a lot for now. You were asleep for ten days, so I guess this was just in time."

Ten days! Such time. Viola could not begin to imagine how many things could have happened in that. Especially when it came to Ellen. Ellen...and the others back in Alvielia. The case of the Mervines' diary however was also interesting to her.

"Sir, do you think that...Edward Mervine is still alive?" -Viola had worry in her voice as she asked this.-

"Old Edward? -replied Paltor;- No no. Surely not. He died during the times when his family was still at the peak of its power. But what I and the other monks know is but a fraction of the knowledge about the Mervines. Like many other things, you will have to ask Richard about this, and perhaps the other Olverians. They seem to know a lot about the Mervines; how or why, I do not know."

Viola thought a bit. Richard seemed to be no ordinary man from the very beginning to her, and now she thought there was indeed more to him than meets the eye.

"I want to ask you a few more things Viola. Where do you come from?"

"I was born in Alvielia and I lived there all my life. Together with my father Travis and my mother Vivian. She died when I was very little though. Ever since, I have been living with my father only, but we do have some friends in the village of course."

"Ah...so you have met death when you were very young. Tragic indeed. Is there anyone in your village involved in the arcane?"

"We have an old lady in our village called Martha. She is a very experienced botanist and healer, and she knows a few things about some magical plants. Only the less magical ones though."

Viola would have said more, but somebody knocked at the metal door. Paltor stood up, then went to let him in. It was another monk.

"Pardon me for disturbing Elder. The girl's guardian, Richard, requested that we give her nourishment. I have brought her some rations."

"Thank you Brother Otto. Now go, and uphold your task of guard."

"As you wish, Elder."

With that, Otto left and Paltor came back to Viola, with another box. This was bigger than the one which had the book. Viola spoke first.

"Richard? He is here?" -asked Viola out of surprise-

"Yes, he brought you here merely hours after you fell asleep at his hideout. Here, some food which we prepared for you. It is a simple meal and a light one. Your stomach is no longer sick, but it needs time to start performing at its normal strength."

Viola opened the box, and saw the food inside. It was some vegetables, and a smaller, pie-shaped type of bread. She began eating quickly, all while she was under Paltor's and his pupils' protection.

Outside the monks' monastery, Richard's point of view:

Richard was worried about Viola. Paltor and the others have been keeping her in for quite some time. He did trust the holy men, but he knew that even they can make mistakes. There was a light rain outside, and it did not look like it was going to stop soon. Grey clouds covered the sky, with some patches taking on a steel blue shade. The dense pine forest around the monastery stretched far out, and the trees kept bending around mildly in the light wind.

Besides the light rain knocking on the stone building behind him and the wind, everything was silent around Richard. He was thinking about Viola. The terrible night of her rescue, the last time she woke up, and the case in general. Viola did not tell him very much about what happened to her, all Richard knew is that the blonde girl was someone who stole Viola's body, and that the black cat he saw was a familiar.

While giving thought for these, he heard the stone door of the monastery opening, and a monk came out. The monks usually leave through secret passages whose secrets they protect, so it is somewhat rare to see them leave through the primary entrance. Even more so, since people rarely come here anyway.

"Ah, Richard. I see you still wait here for Viola."

"You know Lucius that she means much to me. I am the one who brought her into this, so she is my responsibility. Besides, you know that her death would be horrible. She came so far from such hopelessness, it would be a shame to lose her now."

"Alright, alright, don't be heated up. Believe me I and the others all know about this. If I am not mistaken, Elder Brother Paltor is questioning her about different things now. We managed to restore her eyes and we could also chase away the curse that lay within her."

"Curse? You mean her sickness?" -Richard was surprised to hear this.-

"Yes, it was a death curse. Most likely some sort of witch or other practitioner of the dark arts cursed the poor girl whose body Viola has now. Oh by the way, I can confirm it now. She is indeed the victim of body-theft. As for her body, it needs loads of rest; it will take weeks for her strength to be amassed. Until then, you must take great care of her. I am sorry that we only help so much, but with the curious events as of late, we are even more busy than usual."

"Curious events? So the calamity at the witch house is not the only weird thing happening around?"

"No. Yesterday night, Brother William overheard a conversation of some official people not far away from the mountains' northern foot. They were talking about mass murders and kidnappings happening, especially kidnappings of children. The authority forces are confused, and in their worry, the government closed schools which teach children and youngsters."

"Official people? How could William overhear them? They have some sort of secret gathering place here?"

"Yes, it seems like that. It would not be surprising though. These mountains border two counties of different status. Medran, where Olveria is, is relatively peaceful, it always was. But Gahaln where Alvielia is...is widely known for its occultist activity."

"Yes, I know that. I still remember my great-grandfather telling stories about the Mervines and the other occultists. He lived for a quite a long time, in Olveria he was literally famous for that. One hundred and thirty-three years! He was old enough to witness the last few decades of the Mervines' rampage. But he always told me that the elders of his time lived in even more terrifying times. He told me stories those old people from his time passed on to him. What he had to live through was horrifying, but nowhere near as bad as the times when Old Edward was alive. Old Edward...that was his nickname."

"Now that you mention the Mervines...do you think they might be a part of these events?"

"I doubt it. After Edward's death, his heirs did a botched up job in continuing his legacy. The family kept getting less and less powerful, and by the time my great-grandfather was a man, well...you know what happened. Molvysta was burned to the ground, together with their house. The family either died out or disappeared, we still do not know for sure."

"But if they lost their power, how are there so many occultists here today?"

"Many people took after Edward's beliefs and views. Besides, demons did not limit themselves to the Mervines only. Even when they were still in power, other folks sought out dark beings in search for wealth and power, and there were occultists even before the Mervines. The Mervines were just simply the most notable. There were even feuds between the Mervines and other black magicians, most of them which the Mervines won of course."

"You said 'most of them'. What happened when they did not win?" -asked Lucius-

"Well at other times, the 'renegades' -as the Mervines called them- simply either gave up before they suffered the family's wrath. There was only one exception. Sometime after the death of Howard, Edward's heir, a 'renegade' occultist assaulted the family's manor. They were taken by surprise, and their power was shaken quite a bit. The unknown assailant succeeded in killing several of the family's staff, together with Henry, Howard's would-be heir. We still do not know who he was or why did he do what he did."

"So the third head in line died. Then who took control?"

"Instead of one of Henry's children, the family's top servant, Charles Helm took control. Yes, the Helm family were cronies of the Mervines."

"Oh the Helms...we heard about them. Shortly after the occultist uprising calmed down, they were all slaughtered by a mob in Olmysta City. But wait, if the Helms were in cahoots with the Mervines, how could those civilians deal with them?"

"Shortly after the last Mervine heir, Gerard died, those who were not, how should I say, pureblood descendants of Edward lost their powers. You can imagine the rest for yourself. Hated rich folk suddenly becoming defenseless while their hiding place in the county's capital city is still incomplete...you wouldn't have needed to say anything in front of the crowd there..."

Richard paused for a while, and Lucius was speechless. They both stared towards the pine forest. After some minutes, Richard continued.

"I still remember my great-grandpa telling me that one with a face that would have made you think he is on his deathbed. He was there you know. He saw with his own eyes when the Helms were killed. The entire family. Even their children. Merely years later, the government itself verified that the primary Helm bloodline died out. Other rich families who had contacts with the Helms either fled from the country or were also killed, others were incarcerated for the rest of their lives."

"What about the Mervine bloodline? The pureblood descendants of Edward. How could they even preserve the purity of their bloodline?"

"Well, the Mervine family was quite large. And the heads always tried searching for outside people people who had a natural affinity towards the supernatural. Inbreeding was out of the possibilities, as they dared not risking the imperfections it comes with. There was a part of the family which maintained this without the Helm bloodline mixing in. The Helms themselves approved of this, as the purebloods served as backups in case the magic somehow died out of their children."

"Hmmm. So that was done. And what happened to the rest of the Mervines after the catastrophe in Molvysta?"

"I told you, we do not know exactly. None of them has been seen ever since, and the activities of occultism today all originate from other practitioners of such vile arts. They either died out too, or they are in hiding. I just dearly hope it is the former, because if they escaped into any of the neighboring countries, they will have a shot at rising to power again."

"But how? Surely if our land had so much trouble with them, the government or in old times, the royalty would have told the neighbors about the Mervines' activity?"

"Maybe that was what we would have done, but the officials had something else in mind. They decided to keep the Mervines secret from other countries, and I dare say that maybe there were Mervine-affiliated agents in there who did a good job at covering the family. I cannot chide them though. If other nations heard about these people, even more dark magicians could have risen in their wake. They had followers here, so why not in foreign countries? The leaders' primary concern was always to try and keep the bastards in here."

"But now the Mervines have a chance at hiding away elsewhere unnoticed. That is just too much of a risk. If they did learn from their past mistakes they will do better this time. It will be a dark time for us again...maybe even worse than it was during Old Edward's age."

"That is what I kept thinking about myself, but I guess the officials thought it would be better the lock the influence range of the fiascos they cause in here. And on some points I can understand them. Other countries have a relatively low rate of occult activity, and the spreading of the Mervine's knowledge in some way could have changed this. Look at our current case for example. The people involved were nobody that notable, and even they fell for these dark workings. Speaking of which, when can we take Viola back?"

"As soon as she and Elder Brother Paltor are finished, we can take her back to your hideout. I do not know exactly when will this happen though...I am not a Watcher like William."

Although Richard did say that other countries have a relatively low rate of occult activity, bear in mind that the country he lives in was by far the worst around here in these terms.

Back in the circular chamber of the monastery, Viola's point of view:

In the meanwhile of Richard's and Lucius' conversation, Viola and Paltor were not idle either. Viola had a good time with her meal, and Paltor kept asking her many things. Viola had to tell him about Ellen's former witch house, the things within, and she had to describe her experiences with Ellen.

All this however costed Viola a lot of effort, and she was exhausted after telling the elder monk everything she knew.

"You look tired now Viola. Was the questioning enough for now?"

"I guess so... Hhh...I feel tired. Very tired..."

"Alright then. I will some of my brothers to take you back to Richard's home. He is impatient about you...have some sleep in the while. We will continue talking about such matters at Richard's place. What we discussed now were things he mostly knew, besides your story."

Paltor did not have to ask again. After a minute or so, Viola fell asleep. He stood up, put his hood back on his head again, and called out.

"Brothers! I need two of you to get Viola back to Richard! The same way we brought her here!"

And with that, Paltor and two of his pupils began to take Viola back to Richard's hideout. Viola's face was still a bit teary, and she had a tight grip on that gray book even in her sleep. Richard was glad to see her, and even Lucius assisted in her escort. The other monks kept guarding the monastery and its vicinity with their protective techniques, to make sure -as Paltor said- that no ill force can have understanding of these events.

At the same time in the village of Alvielia, Ellen's point of view:

It has been ten boring days for Ellen in Viola's place. The weather around Alvielia decided to play hardball, as downpours and storms kept coming one after the other, and hails decided to join the fray after a while. The weather got so bad after a while that only the stronger folks left their shelters, and only with thick clothing to keep them safe.

Travis and the civilian guard ever since tried to search for 'Viola's attacker', but they did not find anything they could use as leads. The only thing they found was The Witch's House, but they were afraid to go near it and only viewed it from faaaar away.

Ellen, -fortunately or unfortunately, one could argue- did a good job at acting as Viola. It was quite difficult at times, and she did make minor mistakes, but she could evade the suspicion of both Travis and the others so far. She fairly enjoyed being "Viola", but this all did not come without some things that Ellen herself did not expect.

Suffice to say, since she was being treated in a tender way that she has never been, Ellen did start to soften up. It is worth noting that Ellen did not have any true joy in her past life as a witch, but rather, the things that happened back then merely served as rudimentary and crude replacements for every emotion she should have felt if she were to live a normal life. Evil never brings true happiness, and no matter how badly was Ellen abused, or how maliciously she acted, she still longed for both love and happiness.

This was still in a 'prototype' phase though, Ellen still felt no regret about what she had done to Viola, saying in her own mind that 'it was worth it'. But she did feel regretful about her past. Now that she had memories and knowledge about Viola's past life, she had a grasp of what it is like to live a normal life. This stirred her hardened emotions, because even for her logic-based mind, her past occulthood and crimes seemed like an utter waste and mistake compared to what Viola got.

But what got Ellen especially was the death of Vivian, Viola's mother. Ellen could not comprehend how did Viola endure all of this. Her mother died when Viola was very little. Approximately as young as Ellen was during her mundane life, if not younger. No matter how loving Travis was, both Viola and him were forever burdened and haunted by Vivian's death. But they continued on.

Ellen could not bear with the fact that they could live with it and continue on. At lest she had a future chance of reconciling with her mother, even if she had...not considered this back then, but Travis and Viola were permanently bereaved of any such chance. Travis had a lot of conflicts with Viola, and even this did not stop them. Their lives had their own shadowy side, which never really left them alone. And yet they kept going!

Ellen then started comparing these memories to those of her own past. Her mother was always there for her. Maybe...maybe she would have taken her away from her drug-crazed father after she had finished moving together with that other man…maybe after that, her father might have been pulled out of his drug-induced stupor...

Ellen slammed her fist hard into her desk. "What silly nonsense!" -she thought.- "Her parents had no points for forgiveness. They deserved to die like the scum they are. Viola's situation was completely different!"

Ellen was in the hard situation that most abused people fall into when they first experience better lives than they had before. She was in better circumstances now, but her dark past still had a tight grip on her. Her emotions were still dull, and her plans were still revolving around treasuring her newly gained life. And indeed she was hard-pressed trying to think over the motion of things. However, Travis came in all of a sudden.

"Viola...I need to talk to you. You have been keeping this for yourself ever since we woke up in the forest."

Travis shut the door of Ellen's room behind himself. Ellen knew it. This time, she had to retell everything exactly. And this is what exactly happened, with a little twist. After Travis did not leave her alone for quite some time with the question, Ellen decided to retell the story of her and Viola, with replaced roles of course. She told everything as if she was 'Viola', and Viola was 'her', leaving out the details that Viola supposedly could not know however, and lying about the last part with the 'monster'.

"I was very nice to Ellen. Always. But one day, I found her in her bed with her legs and eyes missing. It was horrifying. She screamed like...I cannot describe it. I gave her some medicine to ease her pain, but all it did was make it worse. She also lost her voice. She was keeping lots of medicine around...I had no idea which one to give her. I tried to get away from her, but I could not leave because of a patch of roses she… I don't know! Maybe she controlled it!"

Ellen did a good act, she even started crying at this part. She also retold her trek through The Witch's House and eventually finding her way to Viola. She left the part where she taunted Viola and gloated over her out, and also the part after Travis was struck by the lightning. Travis was satisfied with finally knowing what is going on, but he was also angry a bit.

"Viola. This must be very difficult, and I am sorry for being angry, but you know, if you have told me about all this earlier me and the guard would have had an easier job trying to find out what happened to you. We could have found a solution to this alre-..."

Travis suddenly lost his balance and he almost fell on the floor, only barely regaining said balance not a moment too soon. Ellen was genuinely terrified, she was afraid for a moment that Travis has fallen ill or something like that.

"Da-daddy! What happened to you?"

"Ungh...I don't feel well as of late. Don't worry, I can take care of myself. You just concentrate on being a good girl alright?"

Travis walked up to Ellen and hugged her warmly. Ellen was caught off guard, especially emotionally. She herself would have hated to admit it, but her new life she obtained while being in Viola's place did start to soften her up a bit, even if her outburst before Travis came in reflected the opposite. The tender, genuinely loving treatment was something completely alien to Ellen's hardened heart. She has been never treated like this, not even by her mother.

The softening up was still in quite a starting phase though...and nobody knows just how much of this will it take for what is possibly centuries of wickedness and evil to disappear from Ellen. Maybe a twist of fate will take care of this. Again, who knows?

Travis released Ellen, and walked to the door, noticeably slower than how he came in.

"Goodbye Viola, be good. Remember, if you have a bad dream, do not let it worry you. Me and the others are here for you. Always."

He shut the door.

Ellen walked back to her bed and sat down. She started thinking about recent events. Overall, she was satisfied with how this was turning out, though she did have one complaint. The weather. What was happening around Alvielia and the surrounding regions was basically an almost ceaseless sequence of storms, downpours, and a few hails. The fact that this was preventing Ellen from having fun and being free was the lesser issue for her however.

Her greater worry, out of her knowledge of the supernatural, is that this brutal weather might be unnatural. From what she remembered, she herself was no weak witch, but she didn't think that there aren't other even stronger than her.

And she was alone, if the trapped spirit of her predecessor is not counted. Ellen did take the possibility into account that one or more stronger magicians were manipulating the weather for some reason; she did read horrifiying stories about different practitioners of the arcane or demonic.

The Blue Witch, The Red Witch, The fabled Vampire of Gahaln, whose existence is doubted to this day among occultists, most of them dismiss him as a scapegoat fabricated by mundane people wishing to exploit the fear of others who are mundane, The Mervine family and their associates, and Ellen imagined there were many others out there who were just as dangerous, or perhaps more dangerous than these.

And if this is the situation, her new life might not be as glorious as she had imagined. And since Menidien, the country where Gahaln is, was always notable for its rate of occult activity, especially high in Gahaln county, things had a very high chance of turning nasty soon.

This is something Ellen could not bear to tolerate. But what was the solution? Oh. Ooooh. Ellen came to a conclusion very quickly. After a minute or so, she knew what she had to do, for a multitude of reasons.

Run away from not just Alvielia or Gahaln, but from Menidien as well.

First, this whole case with the others sorcerers and such. She imagined that others among such folks have noticed her activity as a witch, and have taken interest in 'taking a look' at the place for this. Also, Ellen did admit that she was no expert at demon magic, even if she knew it somewhat. Maybe someone will come in time who can sense the body being controlled by a soul that is not the original, and boy would that be a cartload of trouble.

Second, the village where she was. As good as she was doing at acting out Viola, she knew that she cannot keep this up for a long time. She did remember a list of reasons that she thought about after arriving home ten days ago, and they still had a prominent place among her thoughts. Already signs for this was showing. Ellen expected herself to become excellent friends with everyone here, but a certain obstacle stood in the way of this.

Her lack of attachment towards them. She may have had Viola's memories as records of events, but she did not have them as emotional links towards the people. Emotional attachments and other deeper quarters of the soul are unique to each individual soul, and only the strongest of demons could fabricate such things, and even they could only create counterfeits at best. Ellen was not happy with the people around her. They felt like strangers ultimately.

Also, Ellen's newly grown ego. This is the part of being Viola that she utmostly hated. Ellen did not like the fact that she had to act like how Viola acted before. She intended to become herself, to finally have the freedom of doing whatever she wants. And while trying to pretend being someone else, this was not exactly a viable choice. It would be only possible if Ellen slowly changed herself, to put up the disguise that 'maybe she is just growing up'. But this would take a lot of time, and Ellen did not count on lasting very long.

The third major reason was Viola. Yes, Ellen once again worried about Viola. Ellen thought about the possibility of Viola being alive and being helped out by someone, or perhaps more people. If this was not the case, she still had the other two reasons. If this WAS the case, it gave her another, very big reason to get away from here. If Viola would ever receive enough assistance to regain her composure, she would most likely come back to avenge what Ellen did to her.

And given how people smitten with anger and a lust for revenge usually desire to return their offense with an extra serving, Ellen worried that Viola might do something even more inhuman to her.

As Ellen thought, she heard meowing. It was her new and only true friend, the brown cat. Ellen determined ever since that the cat was a male, and she named him Stuart. He seemed to be an exceptionally clever cat, as unlike most cats, he did listen to his name, and he seemed to understand Ellen well.

Stuart climbed down from a ladder leading to the roof terrace of Ellen's room, and slowly came to Ellen. He jumped up on her legs and started purring. Ellen responded by petting him. Stuart was perhaps the first being ever who received genuine love from Ellen. The former witch did like cats from the very beginning, even before she met the black cat. And truth be told, Ellen was happy deep inside that Stuart was truly her friend.

Ellen did not like her relationship with the black cat deep down, just as she never truly liked her life as a witch...as a prisoner. A prisoner who commited such crimes that courts would have a hard time thinking up a fitting punishment. At those times, Ellen was desensitized towards such inhuman things by how she lived, but these aftermath events after her escape from The Witch's House slowly started to break her.

She grew continously disgusted and fearful or her own past, and as hard was it for her to admit, she did begin to feel a little bit of regret now. The little boy...all those poor people. Ellen recalled how Travis and the old woman Martha treated her with such close care after her falling into a coma. And this is what sparked Ellen's fear the most. People were scared that she was sick. If merely being sick scares people so much, Ellen did not dare to imagine what a death of such a loved one would cause.

Back then this just bounced off her, but this experience has broken that dark resolve. There was no way back now though. Ellen had to flee. Far away. It is the only way.

"Oh Stuart...I'm glad we've only just met. You wouldn't have wanted to see me some time ago."

Ellen lied down on her bed, and Stuart responded to this. He walked on to Ellen's stomach, and lay down there. Ellen continued to pet him.

"You know, I have to go away from here. Nasty people might be after me, and I cannot-"

Ellen realized that Travis might be hearing her. She lowered her voice.

"So, I cannot be with these people. I just...don't like them that much. Whenever I talk to them it feels...shallow. I cannot explain."

Stuart stopped purring, and he widened his big eyes.

"Surprised? I am too. I never thought my new life would come out like this."

Stuart suddenly turned his head towards the window of the room, and he quickly ran out. Ellen did not understand for a moment, but she listened for a bit. The rain has stopped. Though she could see lightnings in the distance, and she could hear faint thunderclaps as well.

Ellen knew that this was the time. Alvielia's people is still disrupted by the recent weather, and they will no doubt gather now to discuss the damage done and etc.

She decided to immediately start planning her escape.

-END OF CHAPTER 3-

- _Sorry for the long latency,_ _many things were happening at once_ _.-_

 _-Hope you enjoyed it. Keep in touch, the next chapter is coming!-_

 _-Be good :)-_

 _[2015. VIII. 12. Update]_

 _-Administered some fixes for chapters 1, 2 and 3._

 _-Chapter 4 is already in the making, but is taking a long time, as the arc I plan to start with it turned out to be a lot more complex to write nicely than I expected._

 _[2015. VIII. 14. Update]_

 _-Made some alterations for the chapter to connect better to the next ones_

 _-Chapter 4 is being VERY problematic for me. Sorry for the latency dear readers, I will start working harder on it._


	4. Quatre:Initiation and Departure

_REVENGE IS NOT A SOLUTION...OR IS IT?  
_

Chapter 4: Initiation and Departure

At the Ams mountains, Richard's point of view:

The journey back to the hideout from the monks' monastery took two hours. Although the sky was overcast, it was not warm and there was a noticeably strong wind around, the weather was otherwise favorable for Viola and her companions, and even the wildlife was calm and quiet now.

Accompanying her were Richard, Paltor, Lucius and the two pupils who volunteered. Needless to say, they were not keen on risking Viola getting hurt. Since Viola agreed to help them, they now had another reason on the heap of other reasons to assist her.

Richard and Lucius covered the group from the front and the rear, while Paltor and the two pupils were in the center with Viola, who they were carrying on a large wooden chair. Viola was asleep there, and as such, the group was moving with a slow and careful pace.

There was an easily walkable forest path that they could use, though it was hidden in the inner parts of the forest, and they could only use it because they knew where was it. This made them safe from most intruders. Adding to their safety was the fact that it was near to a bare, rocky cliff, and less brave people were afraid to go there in fear of falling rocks.

Viola slept peacefully, and the others did not say a single word, besides Paltor and Lucius. Lucius quietly retold everything Richard had told him before they left. After that however, there was complete silence. They wanted to pay most of their attention to their journey now.

Thankfully, they eventually arrived without even a scratch on them. Richard's hideout was concealed inside a big protrusion of rock that had a large cavern inside. Carefully carving the rock inside and separating different rooms with light wooden walls, Richard made it into a homely, if somewhat crude dwelling with the help of some people from Olveria.

The door was concealed by the lush vegetation which grew around the rock, and it was only marked with small, ambigous mark which only Richard and whoever he trusted with the secret knew about.

Richard got the door open, and the group went in carrying Viola. He went to the middle of the rectangular entry room, and lit the lantern that hung at the center of the ceiling. With the lantern giving light, the group could now see where they should go. The hall had six wooden doors, all leading to a different room, with two at each end of the room, and a seventh door, the entrance at the end where they just came in from.

The walls were decorated with different trinkets Richard had gathered, and a painting which looked quite old. At the northern end of the hall, there was also some sort of glyph-text carved on the wall, but even Richard could not understand it. He even asked Paltor to try and translate it, the elder monk however did not know what it said either.

Richard led the group towards the western side, and to the first door. Opening the door, he led them into the very same room Viola had waken up the first time she was here. He has ever since taken good care of the room, and he readied some more furniture to make the room serve as sort of a bedroom. Paltor saw this, and he quetioned Richard:

"A bedroom? Do you want Viola to stay here for a long time?"

"Strange as it sounds, -responded Richard- I do. I have a feeling that we should not return her to Alvielia yet. After you have taken care of her I will explain why."

Deciding to accept the answer as enough, Paltor and his two pupils carefully placed Viola on a bed which Richard freshly made during the ten day period Viola was being healed at the monastery. After this, they adjusted her clothes and checked for further wounds or any other ailments, then Paltor told the two other monks and Lucius to return to the monastery and be on guard.

Richard went to the entrance, and he closed it after the three have left. Going back to Viola's room, he began to explain his intentions to Paltor:

"Now, you must curious as to why I want Viola to stay here. The problem is you see, is that the one who stole her body is probably acting out Viola right now. At least...can the thief actually do this?"

"Unfortunately she can. -responded the elder monk- The stealing of a body also provides access to the experiences and memories in it; however, this also counts for Viola. Whatever knowledge or experience Ellen has is now usable to Viola. At least, depending on how much does she actually understand. Oh and now that we are here, I will tell you the full story behind what happened to her."

Since Viola told Paltor the entire thing, he could now retell the terrible tale to his young friend. And thus he told Richard everything Viola had told him back in the monastery, and Richard listened carefully. After they were finished, Richard was visibly appalled.

He could not say a single word for minutes, and he had an expression on his face which was a mix of fear and disgust. Viola did not hear her tale again fortunately, as she was asleep, and both of her newfound friends were thankful for this. Richard broke the silence after a time.

"Such treason. Such pain, how could Viola endure all this and remain brave, or let alone reasonable?"

"What we were thinking may be true. -answered Paltor- Viola seems to indeed have an exceptionally durable spirit. And now this might sound cold, but she is like this _so far_. Being tormented opens a gateway inside one's soul for the darkness to trespass; she might later become a villain if something goes wrong."

"Like being overwhelmed by what has happened? -questioned Richard- Being unable to let go of Ellen's betrayal when she should?"

"Yes. You just guessed the best example. In fact, a large amount of people with wicked personalities become what they are for this reason."

"Then I guess we should sincerely hope that this does not happen to her. Well, I did not explain why do I want her to stay here. What you told me just nailed it further in. I suspect that Ellen, who has Viola's body now, is now pulling an act to convince the people around her that she is in fact Viola."

Paltor nodded, but at the same time, he frowned and lowered his head a bit.

"This would make going there with Viola a bad idea. -continued Richard- Such a person has no problems about lying, and after the villagepeople hearing about and seeing what has happened to who they think is Viola, they might be paranoid. I doubt they would trust us. Or if nothing else, Ellen will pull an act to convince them about this."

"That is what I was thinking about just now. -replied Paltor- Pulling an act. Yes, I do know that Ellen has deceived countless people with it, but nothing earthly is everlasting, especially those of wicked nature. And with having to pretend being someone else, it just became harder for her."

"Do you think so? Well that is just good; we could wait until she makes too many mistakes to be convincing, and then present Viola at the right time...or?"

Richard did not finish the sentence, seeing his old friend's face. Paltor frowned even more, and looked at Richard with the kind of expression that made Richard realized that he just said something that is out of its place.

"I do not know. -replied Paltor- We cannot know when will that happen and how. IF it will happen at all. A problem is that what you proposed would probably need surveillance. Brother William cannot do that, as his duties require him to be monitoring different things. As for somebody being sent in, the villagepeople would get suspicious."

"Right. -answered Richard- so the waiting plan is off the list. But then I guess our task currently is nothing more or different than caring about Viola right?"

"Yes. Stabilizing her and telling her about everything is what we must do now. Well...what you must do."

"Me? Paltor are you telling me you will not help?"

The elder monk seemed to be sad about this, but he continued with honesty in his words and voice.

"Sad as it is, not for that long. We will help you with Viola, cure her and restore her body, but after that we will have other tasks to do. This is our fate as monks; always strictly directed to the greatest threat. Viola's bad state will soon be resolved. After that, the care and training you can offer her will be enough."

"I see. -replied Richard- But if I am not intruding, what kind of tasks do you have now?"

"With Ellen's disappearance as a major threat, our opportunities have become wider. This means bigger responsibilities however, and we must ensure that Menidien's balance is restored once. I know that it is unusual for us normally enclosed monks to act like this, but with nobody else willing to take up the task, it falls to us."

"So you are going to act like missionaries? Spreading your faith throughout the country?"

"Yes, but that is not the only thing we do. Our research and upkeeping of the scriptures guarded here bind us in ways, and our time is limited. We safekeep writing both holy and unholy, for the usage of what we believe in, and the understanding of that which we fight against to be prepared against and to prepare others. We also watch over our territory to see if evil forces act."

Richard understood. Although they have known each other for quite a time, this was one of the rare occasions when the elder monk discussed more secret information with him. Richard could not guess why did Paltor suddenly open up, but he was satisfied with the notion that he probably has a good reason. After a minute or so, they continued to talk:

"Speaking of the country's balance, do you think it will be safe for us to stay here in the long run? I mean, me and Viola."

Paltor narrowed his eyes at the question.

"I do not know. -answered Paltor- Even with the Mervines' influence gone for a long time and Ellen disappearing, the many misfortunes here do not cease. Something is on the move here. Something powerful. And although we monks are wise, our limited range in tasks sets a threshold to our knowledge. But, where did your question exactly come from?"

"From what I heard. Lucius told me that William overheard government personnel discussing mass murders and kidnappings. I know that for a country like this such events are not novelty, but still, what do you think? Is it possible that the Mervines are returning?"

Paltor shook his head.

"Why are you asking me? I thought you know a lot about the Mervines thanks to your great-grandfather and the village guard."

"I do, -replied Richard- and based on what I know, I too say it is unlikely. But I wanted to know your opinion. Still, if not the Mervines, maybe someone else? Maybe someone they secretly trained? You know how shady those folks were."

"Secretly trained…-murmured Paltor- Mmm. I don't think so. I know you talked with Lucius about this somewhat, and he told me in turn whatever you had to say. Yes they were shady, but they did not trust others easily. Their downfall though. Do you really not know what exactly happened to them? Maybe that could give as clue."

"I have no idea. All we know is that the fire in Molvysta was just suddenly there, and the Mervines were caught by surprise. One of the family's servants, being released from the grip of his masters' wrath, told the Olverians back then all this. Unfortunately, he a died a few days afterwards. Poor man! I bet he barely had any idea about who he served."

Richard checked on Viola to see if anything has happened. Luckily, the girl was sleeping peacefully and she seemed to be undisturbed by any dream or such. Richard then sat back on his chair and continued his conversation:

"Think about it a bit. Could it be possible that even if the Mervine bloodline is dead, they have left behind sort of a 'nominal' heir? Or at least somebody who is to continue their legacy?"

"I don't think so. -responded Paltor- We have a found tome that was formerly Edward Mervine's, and the circumstances it was found in indicate otherwise. Inside our territory, which is quite surprising, one of our patrols found a ramshackle hut where two novice witches were hiding. It was burned down, and the book was just lying there randomly."

"True, true. -said Richard- I could say that they could be laying a trap though. Maybe it is a falsified document with fake writing on it. It really is not hard for a fellow like Old Edward to make a counterfeit."

"I myself thought about that, but we cannot know. To assume it is real could be unnecessary worry, while assuming it is fake could be a possible problem, a huge one at that, that we might overlook; that is something we cannot offer to slip in unnoticed. I asked Viola to try and open it, but it stayed shut."

"Viola? -asked Richard in a surprised voice- I don't get it. Monks like you, even the elders could not open it, so why her?"

"Exactly because of who she is. You know too that the Mervines always underestimated common folks. And because of this, they were unprepared against those they considered to be meaningless. I thought that maybe Old Edward's enchantment would ignore Viola, or that her strong soul might force it open, but it did not work."

Viola groaned in her sleep. Both men quickly turned their attention towards her, and she seemed to be having trouble in her sleep now. Richard walked there, and started checking on her status. He noticed that her forehead was alarmingly hot.

"She has a fever. -said Richard- I guess the physical trauma is starting to catch up for real. Not surprising at all."

"Now you know why are we giving her a pause. -said Paltor- We monks are tired and need rest as well after this ceremony, and combined with her fatigue, results could be disastrous if we attempted to restore her legs now. I say that me and my brothers should rest and study, while she will be resting here at your place in the while."

Richard tended to Viola's pain by moving her around gently to be in a more comfortable position on her bed, and putting an additional blanket on her. After some time Viola calmed down, though she still visibly had her fever. Richard sat back down on his chair, and resumed the conversation:

"How long do you think will we need to wait? For you to catch your breath and for Viola to catch hers."

"Two or three weeks. -answered Paltor- Maybe that is even more than needed, but being sure is never a bad thing. Note, after her legs are back, she will need some training to get used to them again. Especially...remembering that her host was the under the effect of a death curse. It did look disease-like, so we should get the help of Dr. Eugene. Did you hear about him recently?"

Richard's face went ashen at this point, and he also tilted his head down a bit.

"Oh yes...Eugene. Lucius told me we will need him but you see, we will not be getting his help. He was assasinated en route towards here. We suspect it was either a Veldine or an Amtine agent."

"An agent from Veldurn or Amtier? Come now Richard, where do you get these ideas? Yes, Amtier was in war against Menidien once, but that was because of the Mervines. And Veldurn? That country is noted for its neutrality."

"Exactly! -retorted Richard- And this image of neutrality would give it an opportunity and a 'cloak' of sorts to easily capture Menidien, viewing the local conflict-torn status. As for Amtier, I imagine there might be some avengers spiteful over their losses in the war, or some extremists claiming that Menidien is full of witches even now."

What made this sad and frightening at the same time is that extremists with claim would be partially telling the truth. Even with the Mervines and Ellen gone, Menidien was still the most occultist-ridden country around here.

"Still, -spoke Paltor- poor Eugene is a great loss. Me and the brothers will be praying for his poor soul. Alas, this will make it a bit more difficult. You will have to take care of Viola without medical assistance, unless you know someone else."

"Sadly no. -said Richard- He was Olveria's officially licensed doctor, and with the chaos going on around the country, the officials will not care much about the remote areas and send another. Medran is a region known for a very low rate of occultism, they will just shrug and say 'they dealt with it so far, and so it won't be a problem'.

"What? -asked Paltor- They really reply like this to you?"

"In fact! -said Richard- Even when it was a relatively peaceful period for us, they refused to send another doctor, even though Eugene had tons of work because he was alone. And I did not even mention smaller villages around like Multystre and Eltiesme. People from there came to us as well before, and now there will be huge disease problems."

Richard covered his face with his hands for a few seconds, then continued:

"You see Paltor, the officials are just worried about spending resources on the rural regions. With the chaos going on DESPITE the fact that the greatest dark magicians known so far are gone, they are just more and more worried. I've talked to mayor Monty back in Olveria while you were healing Viola, that is how I know all this. Despite his young age, he is steadfast and reliable as mayor."

The elder monk now seemed to be annoyed somewhat.

"Nonsense! -he said, his voice being louder than usual- They know that the folks here are formidable...I swear they have the same problem as the Church of One Truth in Dvedar; they are confident in their own established ways so much that they do not trust the simpler, yet sometimes smarter folks that much."

"Indeed. -answered Richard- The civilian guard are the only people who listen to us, but you know what they are like. If the official police says no, then no. This applies to everything! Otherwise they might be punished. This is one other reason why I asked you about that we being here is safe or not."

"For a time you will be forced to stay here. -replied Paltor- As long as Viola is like this you cannot move anywhere. And after that, it would be safe if you train her in known grounds. I myself have only basic knowledge of the surrounding lands, and I take it you are not that experienced concerning them either."

"I was once taken to Veldurn when I was a child, but that is it. I never extensively studied other countries, viewing how my business was primarily here. However, we might be forced to move later on, so I will get to it and study about the surrounding countries in the Olverian Archives. It's a meager library, but I think it will do the job."

Richard thoroughly thought this over. The region was viable for moving housed five countries. One of them was Menidien where he was right now. The four other countries around were Veldurn, Amtier, Ttettarim and Hondime. He only knew the names of the countries for sure, everything else he had in his mind about them was speculation or not completely accurate.

The library he mentioned back in Olveria was his bet for researching about the countries. It will take a lot of time to read up all the needed info. What reassured Richard is that Menidien will be good for a time even after Viola's repairing is done.

Eugene's death was a shocking blow however, and Paltor, along with his brothers will be occupied with a myriad of other tasks after they are finished with Viola. Richard immediately realized that the task he invited Viola to might be harder even than he thought.

But what ultimately made Richard worry was the country itself. Menidien was in an increasing state of chaos, and Ellen's fall as a witch seemed to do little for positive aspects to surface. Even with the Mervines gone and Ellen becoming mundane, there is still something messing up this place. He could not even begin to imagine what might be causing this.

He did love Menidien, and he wanted Viola to happily, or at least calmly return to Alvielia, to her normal life. But it seems this was going to be the distant reward of a lengthy and harsh quest. Paltor interrupted his thinking suddenly:

"On the other hand Richard, now that I heard you say these things, I do encourage you to leave after we are done with Viola here. I am worried about not only your safety, but our enemies as well."

"Our enemies? -asked Richard- Is there someone who is an open threat to you around here? Some sort of powerful dark magician?"

"Something just does not add up. Lucius told me that you had a comparably easy time chasing away Ellen's former familiar. One burning cross was enough. You might be thinking it is good relief, but it is not entirely that."

Richard just widened his eyes. He was completely surprised by what he heard.

"What I am saying is, -continued Paltor- it was too easy. Demons usually require more effort to chase away. In fact, it might have easily killed you there. Though, I can imagine that it might not had to face real opponents for a long time, and he became overconfident or just lazy and inattentive. Whatever the case, stay vigilant and immediately alert the Olverian clergy if it or any other demon appears."

The elder monk then stood up, and placed his hood back on.

"Alas, I will take my leave now. Richard, you are taking grand risks. But if Viola is able to resolve all this with our help, things will be better than ever."

"Viola...I was asking myself a question. -said Richard- What must she exactly do? And how?"

"The position she is in allows her to do things others might not be capable of or permitted to. I do not exactly understand this myself, I admit. This will something that the future will reveal."

Richard guided Paltor out of his home, and then shut the great stone door after his old friend left. He then went back to watching over and tending to Viola.

8 hours later at the same place, Viola's point of view:

Viola woke up from a dreamless sleep rather peacefully. Right after waking up however, she felt bad. She felt somewhat cold, and the sensation of fatigue struck her, as if somebody had made her work all day. She however was in a comfortable lying position, which eased her state somewhat.

Deciding to size up her situation, Viola opened her eyes and began to inspect her surroundings. She was in a stone chamber which was carved out to be in the shape of a standard room. Two small windows let air and some light in at one of the room, and an open door was at the other. The room was furnished to be sort of a spare bedroom, for a visitor or friend.

There was a wooden table with two chairs for it, a shelf with tools and books on it, a green carpet on the floor, and the bed Viola was lying on. The green carpet was made in a way to make one think of grass, and this was soothing for Viola. She was very fond of nature, even if her likeness towards hunting might imply the opposite.

Checking herself while sitting up, Viola saw that she was covered by a multitude of thick blankets. Richard must have put them on her. As for her body, it was mostly fine. She was dressed in simple gray clothing, a long-sleeved shirt, and a gray skirt that covered the stumps of her legs. She checked her hands and her stomach under her shirt, and there were no bruises or wounds anywhere, besides one spot.

Though it was partially obscured by her undergarments, she could see a nasty black scar that looked like a wound a sword would leave on the left side of her bust, stretching from where she presumed her heart is to just barely below the point where her shirt's collar covered it.

Viola was frightened by the sight. She did not know what to make of it. She touched it carefully, and then a bit harder, but it did not hurt. So it was the kind of scar that is just ugly but does nothing otherwise. Nevertheless, Viola decided that she will ask somebody about it.

Besides this, the fever and the missing legs, everything was alright physically. Viola lay back on the bed and placed the blankets further up to cover her more. She lay her head down and delved into her thoughts.

Viola wondered what was next. First, Richard, a man she never met, rescues her from Ellen. Then he introduces her to monks, who happen to possess powers of many kinds. She then gets healed, accepted into some sort of group who want to fix things up, and treated like a long-lost friend.

This all happened so quickly that the things Viola were happy for were now starting to catch up, and now Viola was overwhelmed. One day she was betrayed and Ellen and doomed to die, and now she was here all of a sudden. It felt like sudden at least, Viola knew from the others that much time has passed ever since.

Viola did not exactly know what to make of her situation now. She agreed to help Richard and the others, and they seem eager to heal and care for her. Viola however was doubtful at this moment. Even though Gadavithe, that strange being from the light city, told her that her encounter with Ellen puts her in this position, but she did not exactly get it how.

She survived pain and damage that would have broken some other comrades of his yes...but what does this give her that make her such an important person here? A notable durable soul? Now that sounds good. But how will she use that to help out?

Viola was somewhat confused. These memories she 'inherited' from Ellen are the keys? Or perhaps her survival?

A little headache struck. Viola was already weary of thinking this much. She guessed that her brain wanted to rest now as well, seeing the fever and the massive trauma her whole body needed to endure. Besides, she remembered Paltor telling her that her body needs vast amounts of rest now.

A few moments later, Viola realized there was one part of her body which she did not check out thouroughly yet. Her head. For observing her face she will need a mirror though. And without legs, getting it would be complicated. She decided to call for aid instead:

"Umm...is anybody here?" -she asked-

Footsteps could be heard, and Richard appeared in the room's door just seconds later.

"Viola, you are awake! -he said- Careful now, you caught a nasty fever. That's why I put all those blankets on you."

"A fever."-thought Viola. That indeed explains the many thick blankets, and the fact that she felt tired.

Richard went to her, and adjusted the blankets a bit more upwards, so that only Viola's head was exposed.

"There you go. Now you will not feel cold at all hopefully. Do you need anything?"

"Mm, no no. I'm fine like this. For now I would prefer just lying here and doing nothing. I feel very tired. Where am I? What happened?"

"We brought you back to my home. I made you a proper bed ever since, the cloth covered table would not have been good again I'm afraid."

"Ohh, thank you. -said Viola with a smile- And, how are you?"

"I am fine thank you. -answered Richard- You were brought here around eight hours ago. I talked a bit with Paltor back then about some things, just for you to know. Ever since, I was doing all sorts of things around my little dwelling."

"That's good. -said Viola- What things where you talking about with the sir?"

"Sir! -Richard laughed a bit- My Viola you are a very polite and respectful person aren't you? Believe me he won't be offended if you would just called him by the name. I do that too. But to answer your question, we were talking about Menidien, the Mervines and our situation in general."

"Right. -Viola sighed a bit- Now that I think about it, I am a bit hungry. Could you bring me something? Oh! And I also need a mirror. I want to see my face."

Richard nodded, and then bought a simple meal for Viola, along with a little mirror. Viola sat up carefully to be able to eat, and Richard put down the meal before her on the top blanket. He then brought a bit larger one for himself, as it happened to be dinner time. Before eating, Viola checked her face out in the mirror.

Her face was actually quite fine. No wounds, no scars, and her face was complete. A little girl's face adorned with a pair of gold eyes. Oh those gold eyes...this made Viola stir a bit. But it was over quickly. Viola has now accepted that what has happened has happened, and she decided to not lot herself being bogged down by the memories.

Next, she checked her hair. The long, flowing and at the ends mildly curly purple hair was mostly fine too, with the exception of being uncombed.

"Hmm. I don't know what should I thank the monks with. -said Viola- They did so much for me and, with such accuracy and detail."

"I think your participation in our quest is already enough, if they wanted compensation in the first place. -answered Richard- You see, they sort of view helping those in need as a sacred duty of sorts. It's just...not many people seek them out besides those they know already."

"But why?" -questioned Viola, being surprised-

"You see Viola, the best things usually require the most effort. This is true for the monks too. Most people are impatient for letting them help, and for some reason their faith exerts mistrust from people. This is a long story. For now, let us eat."

And with that, the two of them began to eat their respective meals, all without saying a word to each other while eating.

Richard was watching Viola closely. She was fine however, and careful enough to avoid accidents. Viola was also given a glass of water, which she slowly drank; and then she put it down next to her bed, which was fortunately low enough for her to comfortably reach down. Soon, she and her newfound friend began to talk:

"So Viola. -began Richard- Here you are. We had our meals and you are rested I hope. Do you feel like you could talk or should I give you some rest?"

"We can talk if you want. -responded Viola- I wanted to talk to you about many things either way, and I don't really want my sickness to hold me back. Now, we do not really know each other as I noticed. We should introduce ourselves to each other! -Viola had a bright smile at this point- You start."

Richard's face was brightened too, he liked telling stories and details about himself and the things he knew, and he was happy that Viola was in a good enough mood to talk.

Viola felt very tired, but she really did not want her state to limit her. Learning at least a few things would help them out both, and she was determined to at least catch a few things. Richard seemed to agree, as he began talking:

"Alright. -he said- My name is simply Richard, no surname as I am not from a rich family. I am from Olveria, a small village in Medran county some miles beyond these mountains. My parents were Helga and Hugo, both from Olveria. Interesting how they have names that match initial letters isn't it?"

"It is. -said Viola- in fact, me and my mother are like this too. Her name was Vivian. She died when I was very young though. She was the hairdresser of our village Alvielia, and she was also good in fashion and other such things. Many ladies often came for her advice. Ever since her death, I have been living alone with my daddy Travis, who is a hunter, and the best daddy ever."

Richard smile at her last few words. Viola coughed a few times, and then continued:

"Anyway, my name is simply Viola, you know my village and my parents now. As for my occupation, I am a student at the Shield-and-Book School at Dinmysten City. What do your parents do?"

"My parents, -said Richard- are old people now, and both are retired. My mother Helga is, well, a simple housewife, but a very clever one! Before retiring he sometimes assisted my father with his work. As for my father Hugo, he was a member of the village guard, the same one my great-grandfather, and a witness of the Mervines' doings, belonged to."

"Oh, the Mervines. -said Viola- Paltor told me about them."

And with that, Viola retold everything the elder monk said to her about the Mervines. Richard put on a sour smile:

"He did good by mentioning that you have to turn to me if you want to hear more about them. I know much because my great-granddad, Roland, told stories to me when he was still alive. He lived for one hundred and thirty-three years, long enough to have witnessed their last years of power. He died when I was younger though, possibly as young as you."

"That was the first time I ever heard of them. -said Viola- Back in Alvielia, the witch in the forest, who I know now to be Ellen, was our worry always. She did lots of damage around her house, and the forest was considered to be a place that you had to avoid to be safe. Daddy never told me about any other bad people like her."

"At least you were not burdened with their wicked acts and ways. -answered Richard- I myself know only a few, the Mervines, the Vampire of Gahaln, though some people say he is just a piece of fiction, a silly invention of people wanting to scare each other; and others are The Red Witch and The Blue Witch."

"Wow! -responded Viola- Mind if you ask you some more things about yourself and then about them? I mean the bad folks."

"Of course. And along with these, I will also teach you some terms, names and things to know. You do remember agreeing to help us? There will be some basics to know then. But only the very basics for now, nothing complex. I will tell you the more complicated things when you are alright. So then! Ask your questions."

"Ok. First, what are you, I mean, what do you do for a living?"

"I am a protector of my village. -answered Richard- I scout the woods and a certain vicinity of these mountains to watch over things which happen here. The monks I took you to happen to be old friends of my village. In fact, the first founder of their order was an Olverian. They maintain contact with us as a memorial to this."

Richard took a cushion that was within arm's range from the shelf next to him, put it on his chair, and sat back down. He continued:

"I took the role up because of Roland. The stories he told me frequently inspired me to take up arms against evil and defend those I love. Ellen, though not a primary concern, was known to us too. We just called her The Death in the Forest. In fact, tales about her were frequent too. Roland's wife died to her you see."

"How? -asked Viola- Did Ellen set her up as she did me?"

"No. One day she just simply disappeared. The monks from back then told the people that they detected Ellen's activity. Mind you, I am the first of my village to know her name, and only because of you. Back then, they used the name I told you...just to avoid confusion."

"The Death in the Forest…-Viola gave a long sigh- It certainly fits her. Now that I have her memories, they sometimes flash in my head and show me whatever she did. These are terrible things to see. I just hope her memories won't drive me mad! What was the name of Roland's wife by the way?"

"Lily. She had the name because lilies were her favorite flowers. Roland even continued to care for lilies in their garden after she died."

"That makes this so ironic. -said Viola- In Ellen's witch house, there were lots of lilies in some of the rooms. Maybe Lily inspired Ellen to keep lilies around?"

"I don't know if I could call that inspiration…"-grumbled Richard.

"Well, Ellen is a witch. -continued Viola- And after going through what happened between me and her, you could expect her to be like this. It could have been an inspiration for her, in a sick way. Just as Ellen thinks in a sick way."

"Perhaps. -answered Richard- This is something we should rather not go guessing about I say. As for Ellen's memories driving you mad, I suggest that you do not delve in them too much or too deeply just yet. When you have recovered from your shock more, it will be safer to do so. But let's keep ourselves on the main topic shall we?"

"Alright. You told me you will tell me some basic names and terms to know if I wanna help you all. So, mind telling me about the basics, as you said?"

"Of course! Now, let me start with who is involved. First, I want to make one thing clear. We in Olveria are not witch hunters. It's just that us and the rest of Medran did not let itself be subjugated by the Mervines so easily as the rest of the country did. Second, there is no 'organization' among us in that sense. We are just close friends who help each other to the best of their abilities."

"Right. So you are not...a team who are focused in dealing with bad folks, oh I need a word for them, but you are just people who happen to be involved against them together?"

"Yes. And, if you want to name the 'bad folks' collectively, there are several terms. Occultists, witches, contrary to popular belief the term is not solely feminine, it applies to men to, and warlocks. Those are the worst of the 'lower caste' of such people."

"Lower caste?" -asked Viola while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, a lower caste one could say. You see, such people hold within themselves sort of a caste system. The lower end includes the ones I listed, while the upper caste includes black magicians, dark wizards, dark mages, you name them. The difference is that the lower caste people are always dependent on a demon to have powers, while those in the upper caste are people born with powers who turned to evil ways."

"People born with powers? There are people out there who have powers ever since they are born?"

Viola was now astonished. Out of all the things she heard now, even when counting what Paltor said, this was the weirdest thing she heard so far from her new allies.

"Yes. -said Richard- There are _very_ few of them, but they do exist. In fact, some of the monks are like this too. I think… William and Paltor. Thankfully Menidien has the least of this people, as you might have guessed already that not all of them are good."

"Hehe, yes. Daddy always told me that power corrupts. You did mention some of these occultists a while ago. Who are they again?"

"Ah, of course. You already know the Mervines. There are also The Vampire of Gahaln, The Red Witch and The Blue Witch. Despire their similar names, the latter two have no correlation to each other. Just to clear this up in advance."

"Vampire of Gahaln? -asked Viola with a fearful expression- In my county?"

"Don't worry. -answered Richard- Most people agree that he is just a fabrication, some fool probably came up with him to scare and exploit others. Even among the mundane folks, there were people out there who were malicious. Such scammers are fine examples."

"Good to know. -and indeed, Viola was calmed down- And what about the two others?"

"First, The Red Witch. She is a witch who was given this name because she loves fire very much, and is her main tool for terrorizing people. She was notably active around the Gors mountains; herb gatherers feared her wrath, and she was a frequent reason of poor or even lost harvests for the people living in the surrounding regions."

"So those were those nasty rumors I once heard. -said Viola- When I was little, I heard daddy sometimes complaining about how some supplies are not coming to Alvielia; he always mentioned some sort of mountains. Now I know why did those happen"

"Her influence extended to your village too it seems. Well, I think you can imagine what was it like for those who lived or inside her main territory then. This was years ago though; for some reason, she is not heard of nowadays. We do not know what might have happened to her, though I doubt that she has been driven off."

"Driven off? You mean killed or just chased away?"

"Either. -answered Richard- She was known to be extremely violent, and she had a nasty temper. And unlike Ellen, she was active in a large territory. She even approached Medran once, but the folks at Atrystre chased her away. I told you that we are not afraid of them. Occultists are strong yes, but not unbeatable."

"How did they drive her off? -questioned Viola- I remember from Ellen's memories that whenever she was wounded or otherwise endangered, her demon would just save her."

"Demons don't do that always. Maybe that one was desperate for some reason to keep her intact. Demons' powers are limited too, they are not all-powerful by any means. Just usually much stronger than the regular human. That's all I can tell you about The Red Witch."

"What about the blue one?"

"Now she, -began Richard- is not a local witch. She lives in the country Amtier to the north. She has the name because allegedly she always wears blue clothing. Her name is actually a misnomer, as she is a dark mage and not a witch; but the name is stuck on her for some reason."

"What does she do? -asked Viola- I mean...I do not know about Amtier too much, or the other countries."

"According to the tales we sometimes heard, she has the ability to manipulate most things related to cold, and also some sort of short-distance control of objects without having to touch them. Note that the power of such people are not strictly limited to one field, it's just that the one they are mostly skilled in is what they use the most."

"That is kind of obvious. -said Viola- Everyone does what he or she is the best in. Is The Blue Witch still active today?"

"No. Like the red one, she stopped messing around with the people a long time ago. She is a much older example of occultism though, the last attack recorded of her happened eighty-five years ago."

"I wonder… -said Viola with a sigh- why did these people turn evil in the first place?"

"Interesting question. -answered Richard- I don't know the reasons of The Red Witch, but I know some rumors about the blue one. They say that she was the daughter of the royal family of Amtier, and that something happened there in the country which drove her mad. The royals suffered much during a war between Amtier and Menidien long ago."

"War? Was there a war here before?"

"Yes. You see Viola, the Mervines were big troublemakers. Because of their actions, Amtier, and another country to the west, Hondime declared war on Menidien together. Many people died as you might imagine, and many people are still bitter over what happened. Maybe this is what made The Blue Witch become who she is. That's all I know about them for sure."

"Wow. -said Viola- I never head of these people before, and now that I do, I am thankful that we did not have trouble with them so far. Ellen was already enough of a problem. Any other things?"

"Let me think. -said Richard- Well, now that I think about, you have pretty much met everyone important already. The countries around, I need to do research on those. Terms...maybe some of those. I explained the different villains already. Anything else you want to know?"

"Actually yes. What did you use to save me from Ellen and her demon?"

"A moment." As he said that, Richard left the room, and came back a minute later with his submachine gun in his left hand, and a dark green bag in his right hand. He put the objects down next to Viola's bed, and sat down on the carpet. He showed Viola his gun first.

"This is called a submachine gun. It's like your father's rifle, but it fires small bullets rapidly instead of large ones one-at-a-time. Don't worry, I took the bullets out so it is safe. You could even try to hold it, it is not heavy at all."

Viola did that. And surprisingly, the weapon was light. The simple wooden design with the only the needed parts made of metal made the weapon into a simple, but reliable tool. She gave it back to Richard, and after putting his gun away, Richard showed in his hands other things:

"And these are what I loaded into the gun and shot the demon with."

Viola looked there, and saw bullets which were unlike anything Travis had ever shown her. The bullets appeared to be made out of a bluish, crystalline material. Their design was weird. Instead of being pointed centrally, two smaller points were made at their ends.

"These are generic copper bullets coated with some sort of crystal. -said Richard- Neither I, nor the monks know what exactly is it, but it seems to be somewhat effective against anything that is supernatural in nature. A few of them were able to force Ellen's familiar out of its host."

"What do they do? What is special about them?" -asked Viola.

"Maybe the matter they are made out of has some effect related to magic, maybe they are enchanted. I do not know. And viewing how they are for more modern weaponry, I don't think Paltor and the other monks know what they are. What I know is, no shop I know of has these. Maybe the black market, but decent folks do not buy stuff there if you ask me."

Richard put them away as well, and got a wooden cross out of his bag.

"And this is a cross made out of cedar wood. For some reason, demons are terrified of these crosses when you ignite them on fire. One cross was enough to chase away Ellen's demon; though Paltor has told me that this was too easy. And to be fair, I agree with him somewhat. Who knows what that fiend had on his mind?"

"Perhaps he is not such a strong demon after all." -retorted Viola.

"What?" -questioned Richard, with a very surprised face.

"You know, -continued Viola- I have been thinking back to Ellen's memories, and I found their relationship strange. Ellen allied with him in the first place to get rid of the curse the monks took out from me. But there are a few things which I do not understand."

"Such as what?"

"Instead of doing this, the demon gave her the spell which she used to take away my body. Also, why did he limit Ellen's influence to the house? Why did he not extend the range of the enchantment holding Ellen together?"

"Interesting questions. -answered Richard- Viola, what you say is actually very clever. Though, demons are quite subtle and crafty. For now, let's keep our discussion on a basic level. We should talk about complex questions when your fever is gone and your mind will be clearer."

Suddenly, a very loud gust of wind could be heard outside. Troubled by it, Richard went to one of the small windows to look outside, and he frowned upon looking out.

"What is it?" -asked Viola from behind him

"Something is not right. -answered Richard- I see something weird in the distance. Mind if I go outside?"

Viola shook her head. Richard went outside, and Viola saw for a moment through the door that he did so with a pair of binoculars in his hands. A few minutes passed, but he was still not back. Viola was starting to get worried. Maybe someone found them? Some enemy? She hoped not.

Outside the hideout, Richard's point of view:

Leaving Viola behind for a bit, Richard went outside to inspect the strange sight he saw, leaving the entrance to the hideout open. He took his binoculars up to his eyes, and began to look around.

The forest around was mostly calm, except for one spot. And as he looked there, he recognized what was it. A small clearing a few miles away emitted a sickly crimson light, something was being done there. Listening more closely, Richard could hear that the wind he heard carried with itself a strange noise.

Sounds of unintelligible whispers, many voices speaking at once. He could only hear them for brief moments, but that was frightening enough on its own. Suddenly, the crimson light turned into a flash, and after it faded the light disappeared as well.

Richard could not guess what could have been that. Some spell? But how? Ellen was disarmed and bereaved of her powers, so the house should be nothing more than a powerless wreck now. Or maybe it was losing its last fragments power now? That might be the best case out of all of these.

Deciding to look around more, Richard saw something equally disturbing farther away. He only guessed, but far from Alvielia, he saw with his binoculars something which resembled a multitude of small lights. And they were moving. Moving indeed, and they seemed to be sticking together.

Sticking together, and in a formation. They were not just gathered together randomly. Richard was alarmed a bit. Either some sort of supernatural phenomenon, spirits, or in worst case, an army.

Richard looked around more with his binoculars. A bit right from the group of lights, he noticed large clouds clumped into each other. They were moving away into the distance, and he could see a few lightnings flashing here and there. So the horrible weather was going away. Richard found it strange however.

He never heard of such an occurrence before, such meteorological events happening right after each other in an order like this. He did tackle the idea of it being unnatural, but he found it brave to assume that anyone with powers could control the weather. Yes The Blue Witch had control over cold, but she certainly can't cause snowstorms to just pop out of nowhere can she?

Richard decided that he had enough, and he went back. He went into his home, shut the entrance and went back to Viola.

Back in the hideout, Viola's point of view:

Richard came in to Viola's room and sat back next to the bed. Viola already questioned him:

"What did you see outside?" -she asked.

"Lots of things. Some bad, and one good. The good one is, the terrible weather that covered the plains regions not far from here has departed. No more storms and hails for now. But I saw some other nasty things as well. A strange gathering of lights in the distance, and a weird crimson light and flash at Ellen's house."

Viola was scared. Ellen's house, due to her contract expiring with the cat demon, was supposed to be powerless by now. Did the demon get another witch there ever since? Did some dark magician do something to it?

"Ellen's house? Light? But how? -asked Viola- Ellen's memories told me that because her contract with the demon was over the house was going to lose its power. Oww...I have a headache Richard..."

The man did not even say a word. Instead, he quickly went away, and then he came back with some painkillers and a glass of water.

"Here. Take these. -he said- Don't worry, they are just simple painkillers. They will need some time to take effect though. See? I told you we should keep it simple. Thinking hard puts burden on your brain, and with this fever of yours, we should take it easy."

Viola took the pills and water, and carefully drank them. She then lay back down on her bed, and Richard adjusted her blankets again to cover her almost entirely. He then asked her:

"Anything else you would like to know about? Or are you very tired now?"

"There are still a few things. You said that you and the other Olverians know so much because 'you were not afraid to defend yourselves. How did this give you so much information about occultism."

"You know Viola, -anwered Richard- when you have to protect yourself from somebody for a long time, you just have to figure out how the person works, even if only at a basic level. To protect ourselves, we started doing some research after them, and we tried scouting after them. The latter did cost Olveria many lives back then."

This was a good explanation, and Viola was now impressed. Here they are, an entire village, in fact, an entire county of people who could defend themselves against the Mervines and other such folks. But how did they do so?

"I am still confused a bit. -said Viola- If you could defend yourself from the witches and others, how come the others could not?"

"The Mervines did not always use raw force. And even if they did, they did it with strategy behind it. Intimidation and fear were primary weapons of theirs, and they usually did shocking moves to terrify the population into being helpless. I could talk about this for a long time. Let us leave this for later."

"You are right. -said Viola- Then I will ask something simpler and nicer. What is Olveria like?"

"Oh, good of you to ask. -said Richard with a smile- Olveria is a simple rural village mostly, but we do keep the lore passed down to us from our ancestors. Olveria is in fact among the oldest settlements in Menidien, and is an important agricultural location in Medran."

"Wow! -responded Viola, being impressed- Well, I do not know what to say about Alvielia. A simple village with nothing that special about it, but we are a loving and familial community. The people take care of each other, and we often help people from other places when they need it."

"Interesting. Mind telling me about some people you know from there?"

"Of course. Well, you know my late mommy Vivian already. My daddy, Travis, is a hunter, but also a close friend with many of the local civilian guardsmen, and he and Mayor Reginald know each other. Good old Reginald is a very strict man, I am even a bit scared of him I admit. He is overall nice though, if a bit overprotective sometimes."

"Do you have any people with powers or such?"

"Well, we have an old lady called Martha. She knows some lesser magical herbs...though I might have told you about her already. Don't you think?"

Richard raised one of his eyebrows and looked upwards for a moment.

"Hmm. You might have. -he said- But, a reminder can be useful. Now, some folks I could tell you about from Olveria; you know my parents already, so there is no need to explain them. First, there is Mayor Monty, possibly the youngest man in such a position I have ever known about. He is only twenty-two years old!."

Viola giggled a bit.

"I wonder what would happen if he and Mayor Reginald ever met. It would be weird, but I bet Monty could learn a lot from him. What is he like?"

"A staunch promoter of peace and trust. -responded Richard- He is devoted in pacifying people, in fact, his dream is to somehow bring peace to Menidien or at least help in bringing peace here."

"I hope he can do it. -said Viola- It would be very nice for me and daddy, and all of us. I wonder… will our 'quest' get somehow involved in such things? I mean, countries and such."

"Good thing that you mention this! -said Richard loudly- I know this might be much, but after Paltor and the others fix you up, and I train you to be healthy, we might have to get away from Menidien. Nasty things are happening all around, this is why I wanted to do some research about the countries as I said earlier."

Viola's mood dropped down significiantly. Leaving Alvielia and her daddy behind was already painful, and this immediately made her feel even more tired than before.

Leaving the country...Viola had hoped that after this is done, she could return to her daddy. But no. Richard noticed Viola's disappointment, and he tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry. It must be scary and painful for you to leave your homeland behind. But returning to your daddy now would be a bad idea. He is probably convinced that Ellen is you, and presenting you to the Alvielians after what happened will just make them paranoid. Believe me...I know it must be hard, but I promise I will help you fix this situation up. No matter what it takes."

"Thank you…" -said Viola.

With a charming and reassured smile, Viola fell to sleep slowly.

Richard decided not to bother her, and he was sleepy too. He sealed the windows to Viola's room, and then went to his bed himself.

This was turning out to be a bit more difficult than he expected. But now that Viola is in this, by her own will in fact, he felt it was his duty to help her to the best of his abilities. But what Paltor said comforted Richard. This quest he will take Viola on will have grand risks, but if they are successful, good times will come, and hopefully remain for long.

A long journey was ahead of them. He could feel it. And to give space for further thoughts and regain his strength, Richard eventually went to sleep as well. And in his stone-concealed home, he and Viola were both safe. However...someone else was also busy doing her own things in the while.

In the village of Alvielia, Ellen's point of view:

Ever since Richard and Viola returned to the hideout, Ellen did most of the preparations she thought she will need for her departure. She gathered clothes, tools and food together, and she put them in a large backpack that she had found in her room earlier.

Gathering the supplies was not hard, as Travis happened to be out of the way. Ellen checked on him, and he seemed to be in for some trouble because of what happened at the forest.

When Ellen found him, he was lying on his bed with a bare torso, and seemingly with a fever. His torso is worth a mention, as Ellen saw a lightning-shaped redding running throughout it. Ellen did read before in a book that thunderstruck people get such 'wounds' but seeing it in real life was terrifying even with knowing about it.

Her friend cat Stuart thankfully remained calm and silent, and he stood in Ellen's room, so nobody was alerted to what was going on. However, things were still not going smoothly for Ellen. Despite the good plan she had, something did not leave her alone. A line of thoughts which she tried to conceal from herself, but she could not do so after a time.

The fact is, this all shocked her. She just gained Viola's body recently, but already things are not going well. The recent weather and the possibility of Viola coming for revenge were the lesser problems in her mind now. She could not help being haunted by the feeling that something was terribly out of its place.

Her mind was soon preoccupied with this, and unlike Viola, she made the mistake of delving into the memories and experiences normally alien to her too soon. If this was for the better or the worse, that is up to one's judgement.

She started to browse in the memories from Viola's life. She saw the little Viola play happily with Travis and Vivian. The little blonde girl was so happy. So carefree. And the two adults loved her so much. How? What did Viola do to be so happy? And what did she, Ellen do to NOT be so happy? Why Viola but not her?

One could say Ellen was envious, and indeed she was. But this was the really dangerous kind of envy mixed with disappointment and depression. Just what could have happened that put her in this position with the miserable childhood of hers, and her turn to witchdom?

Ellen browsed Viola's memories some more. She saw her making good friends at school. She saw her being nice to the other villagers, and the villagers being nice to her. She saw Viola talking with them, discussing things with them, and learning from them.

Ellen then saw Viola's memories from school. So many young children, all of Viola's age. School was something Ellen dreamed of back then as a mundane child, and an old, but not entirely forgotten part of her true heart was stirred by this.

She saw Viola and the children talking. Little children, discussing school, games, toys, grades, subjects and their teachers, and getting to know each other. Forming a class, a group of children who actively help each other through troubles and all such things.

Ellen saw them engaging in school life. Lunch, exams, being happy about being able to miss out some lessons, getting to know their new teachers upon reaching 5th grade in school...

So many things which did pique Ellen's interest. Now that she saw these, she did start to feel shame about what she did. It MUST be noted that before all this, Ellen was cut off from pretty much the rest of the world because of her disease. She did not know what it was like to have true friendships. She did not know what it was like to have a loving family, or to just generally share interests with other people before this.

She had no idea what chances and things was she bereaving people of by committing all those horrible murders. And with this line of thoughts reaching this points, something snapped.

A terrible headache got over Ellen, much worse than the one Richard's attack. She fell on the ground, and she started breathing heavily.

An onslaught of memories flew through her head. Different memories from Viola's life. And then various images from her own life. But they did so in a sequence that was suspicious to Ellen.

At each give time, two memories following each other seemed to...match. It was almost as if something was forcing her to watch as the two lives are compared with each pair of points being assorted. This thing happened all over during the shocking experience, and Ellen could not resist or send the thoughts away.

She was like this for several minutes, and then the memories suddenly stopped flowing like this. The headache however disappeared slowly, but it did so after a time along with the memories.

Ellen had no idea what to make of that. Was somebody trying to chide or judge her for the things she had done? Was somebody, or something trying to make her feel regretful? Ellen hated admitting it, but deep inside, a spark of regret and guilt did appear. She now had a basic comprehension as to why the things she did was terrible.

Now that she was shown such a perspective, her views began changing. And her personality began to bend in some points too. Along with the similar experiences she had before, these changes were starting to be more than just small sparks in her spirit.

But her fear of Viola and losing her newly gained body and life were still strong unfortunately. And a bit of time later, she went back to her plans. But, the experience haunted her from this time on. She could never forget it, and it etched itself deeply into her mind, even if its effects were only minor now.

Coping with it, Ellen stood up, and ignoring her pain, she started thinking if she had anything else to do before leaving. She had the supplies to leave, Travis was not a problem, and the rest of the village was probably busy with damage control or some such business.

What else was there...oh right. Ellen realized that Viola might have friends or acquaintances outside Alvielia, they might recognize her. Not wanting to have another 'memory-seizure', Ellen refused to start searching Viola's memories about them. But, some other memories about Viola's clothing helped.

Ellen knew that one thing she could do to be subtle was to change her appearance around a bit. And there were many tools around here for that. First off, there were clothes that Viola had but did not like wearing them. Second, she could change her haircut into something greatly differing from Viola's current one.

Both easy to do, but helpful. Ellen decided to change her haircut first, as she did not want hair getting on whatever clothes she was going to wear. She went out of her room, into the bathroom and she looked into the mirror. Viola's double-braids were quite unique, and she was happy about this. Changing this into something different will surely help much.

Not having too much knowledge about haircuts, Ellen grabbed a scissor and got working. After a long time of difficult cuts, stubborn strings of hair, and aiming around in the mirror, Ellen ended up with a relatively decent bob-cut. She liked it, as it gave her sort of a 'tough girl' image, which she thought was going to be useful.

She combed it a bit, and it was easy to do, viewing how short her hair was now.

After finishing, Ellen went back to her room and started planning about how will she dress. She started searching in her bag, trying to find the clothes she knew Viola did not like. Ellen guessed that wearing pieces of clothing Viola rarely did would act as sort of a disguise.

She eventually found them. Bulky grayish shoes, somewhat dirty, presumably from using them to walk in dirt. Although practical and strong, it had a robust design, and Ellen agreed in with Viola in terms of disliking it.

Next, brownish pants. They were bland and simple in design, but Ellen did not understand why Viola did not like them. They were bland yes, but they were comfortable and Ellen presumed it will warm her legs nicely when if she ended up someplace cold.

And finally, a gray shirt with a single red, vertical stripe on it. Ellen like this one very much, especially the red stripe. Not wasting any time, she put it and the shoes on too after taking off her previous clothes.

She went to the bathroom again quietly to not make noise with her big shoes and checked herself again. With this clothing on and the haircut she made, she really did have a tomboyish image. Though Ellen would have preferred to have long hair with beautiful clothes, she knew that something unusual for Viola was the way to go now.

Satisfied with her setup, Ellen went back to her room and gathered her supplies together. There was now only one thing left. Where will she go? This is something she wanted to do research on, but too much time being spent on this was something that was not worth it for her.

Being prepared with everything else, Ellen instead wanted to leave quickly. She took a compass out of her bag, and decided that she will just go north all the way. She guessed she will eventually end up somewhere anyway. She did not really care where, just out of the country, or at least far away from here.

As she was thinking, Ellen felt Stuart at her legs again. Picking up the feline, she began to talk to him:

"Are you coming with me too? -she said- It will be a long way. And I don't even know where I will end up. I don't want to waste time poking around in books you know."

Stuart purred softly as an answer. He seemed to really like Ellen, and Ellen too enjoyed his company, which was enhanced by Ellen's love for cats she always had. Stuart was another stir in her heart, and one she did not even try to deny.

"You're the best cat I ever met. -said Ellen- And the smartest one too. Do you really, really want to come with me?"

Stuart just continued to purr and he rubbed his head against Ellen's face. The two shared a few moments like this, but Ellen then turned her attention back to her journey ahead.

"Fine, then come with me. But I warn you, it will be tough. You really, still want to come with me? Well then, let's go!"

Before going, Ellen turned around one last time to inspect the room. Now that she was about to do it, leaving seemed like a difficulty. She was scared a bit to leave behind a safe home. However, she remembered the dangers abound, and her fear of Viola was stronger than her attachment to this place.

Ellen took up her bag, and began her journey. With Stuart behind her, she carefully went downstairs, not wanting to wake Travis up by any chance. Sneaking through the corridor and the entry hall, and the the pair went out the door.

Ellen was careful to take a peek around. The sky was relatively clear, but to the northwest, the big clouds that bombarded the region with all their nasty stuff were still visible. Some stray lightnings could still be seen over there. Their sound did not reach this far, so Ellen guessed they were very far away now, and that she will not have to deal with them.

She also checked the streets. No people could be seen outside, she guessed that they were busy with all the things in their houses the recent negative events might have messed up. If that was the case, it would be the best. Ellen knew however that she still needed to be subtle. Someone could still see her from a distance and stop her for some reason.

Instead of taking the streets, Ellen decided to sneak by the backyard of the house. Checking her compass, she noticed that it was pointing to the west while she was going towards that direction. Not a problem though, as Ellen had an idea.

She decided to make some distance between herself and Alvielia and THEN go straight north. The backyard was easy to go through, Travis did not keep any larger plants, and the back fence did not have a padlock on its gate. No dogs or other such animals were around, so there was no house pet to alert anybody around.

Ellen looked back and listened carefully several times, but nobody was following her and Stuart. Stuart kept quiet too, he seemed to understand the situation, something which made Ellen happy. She had a companion who, even if only to a limited extent, understood her. If nothing else, being not alone made Ellen feel a bit safer.

Walking for an hour or so, Ellen soon started to approach a forest west of Alvielia. It was far away from it, so she decided to target it. She go to the edge of the woods, and she noticed a large hill on the edge of them. She scaled it, and decided to look around.

Luckily for her, she did indeed make a good distance between herself and Alvielia, and looking into the distance, she saw that no other villages were in the direction she wanted to go, at least not as far as she could see. Ellen only worried about the villages close by though, as the farther ones had less chances of having people who know Viola; and with her little disguise, this might just be enough for her to pass by safely.

Also, Ellen was astonished by what she saw. The tall elevation allowed her to observe the distance, and a sight to behold was it! The many rolling hills, the meadows, the other hills and forests, all making up a beautiful countryside. Ellen tried not looking towards Alvielia, not wanting the place to spoil the beauty of these moments.

Paying much attention, Ellen could see a few animals moving around in the distance. She could not exactly discern what they were, but seeing this bloom of life around was already something of a novelty to her. Back around The Witch's House, she did not get to see things like this, as animals were afraid to come near the bewitched mansion.

She was ensnared by the amazing sights for a bit. Staring at the many beautiful sights nature had to offer here, Ellen was sort of inspired to go on. Somehow, she got the feeling the place was...inviting her to journey through there. A certain call of adventuring and exploration took root in Ellen, together with a newfound feeling of freedom.

After staring around for a few minutes, Ellen decided to continue along the edge of the woods. Descending down the hill, she followed the outermost line of trees. She did not meet any larger animals along the way, though she did hear noises that were of animals. Through Viola's experiences, she recognized some of them.

She mostly heard deers calling out to each other, but mostly it was many kinds of birds chirping around loudly. Their many, diverse sounds made a beautiful song of nature, something which Ellen found to be weird in grim times like this, but still, charming and calming.

In the while however, something else started to work in Ellen. The emotion of being free. The notion of going wherever she wanted. Now that she was out of Alvielia, this got all over her. She was actually free to go anywhere, on her own! And this real!

Not made up with enchantments and illusion by the cat demon or some such drivel, but very real! She could smell the many scents nature offered to smell, she could smell the clear air out here, and she could feast her eyes on the many sights before her.

Just like her thing with cats and her dreams of school, this was a part of her true heart. And she was doing it; she was in it. No sickness or demon or witch house holding her in. This experience was only hers now; and she had Stuart with her.

As she walked around, her escape was not her only subject in her mind any longer. She inspected the plants and the environment around her in amazement, it was entrancing to her. The many flowers, plants, trees and other environmental elements all around.

The beatiful formations of rocks covered with moss and grass, the different groups of variations of trees, many things that were new to her. She did have Viola's memories of nature, but to her soul and spirit, these things were new and exciting.

The many little valleys, bent trees on a cliff she saw deep in the forest while looking in there between two tree she stood in front of, and all sorts of foliage. On one spot, the foliage of the trees took on a sparkling, silverish color due to it reflecting the sunlight from itself.

It, and a mossy, big branch looking like some sort of wand made Ellen feel she was looking at a place straight out of some fairy tale. Except this was in real, living life. This was getting better and better.

And , she was now getting to experience all this for herself. And there was no one to limit her. Not her father, not the cat demon, and not Viola or any affiliate she might have met ever since. For once, she was on her own in peace, even if in possible pursuit.

She walked for another hour, and she eventually got to the northern edge of the woods. Conveniently, there was a small clearing there, with a hill covering it from the south. Scaling the hill and looking around with her compass and eyes, she could confirm that she could go straight north from here later.

Looking around further, she saw that Alvielia was now quite far away, there was now not much of a chance that someone will find here. She decided to look for a place where she could hide away from prying eyes. The clearing below was in sort of a pit, so it exactly fit this requirement.

Night was coming however, and the disk of the sun was barely visible on the sky. Ellen decided that she will camp here for the night. Truth be told, Ellen was quite excited. This was her first time out in nature on herself, and the night started to descend soon.

Viola's memories, though she was now very careful with them, served her well this time as well. Putting down her bag, she got a box of matches out. She brought many of those, as she had the feeling that she will need fire often. Remembering campfire, she went to gather branches scattered on the ground and put them together on a small heap.

Ellen then lit a match, and ignited the branches with it. The campfire was soon lit, and now she had some light in the darkness. Stuart did not seem to be that scared of the fire, though he did keep a noticeable distance. He lay down next to Ellen, who was now sitting in range of the fire's light. There was no wind around, so Ellen did not have to worry about the cinder from the fire being blown around.

Ellen did not notice Stuart, as she was contemplating her thoughts. She thought back to all the things she saw today. The many amazing things in nature...as much as she was concerned about Viola, these were amazing to her. She started feeling like she entered a larger world, one with much more things than the books at her witch house taught her.

She guessed that no matter who writes what text about the world, experiencing the many things it has within itself is still another thing. It was an amazing thing to come out here. Much to Ellen's pleasure, things seemed to be calm around. No animal came here to bother her and Stuart, only the crickets could be heard doing their thing.

Ellen remembered that she frequently heard crickets back in The Witch's House too, but that would only serve as another painful reminder of how she was locked in. Now, they served as reassurance that she wasn't just making things up in her mind. Their noise in fact was a pretty background noise for Ellen, she enjoyed their little commotion.

For once, Ellen felt a little bit of happiness, despite all the things happening around. And for once, she was calm and satisfied with what she had. She found it ironic. She has very few things compared to what she had to the Witch's House, but she was happier than she was back then.

She sat a bit closer to Stuart, and began petting the cat. Stuart purred, and he moved on to Ellen's lap and lay down there, and his mistress kept petting him. This made Ellen feel even more safe. The two of them were now two runaways, they were in this together.

They were doing this for a few minutes, until Ellen started feeling fatigue. Stuart got off her lap, and Ellen could stand up. She went to her large bag and started searching inside it. She found a sleeping bag which she could use. She set it up on the grounds, and lay down there to take her rest.

As soon as she lay down however, she saw something new again, which she never go to see to its full glory before. The starry sky, unobscured by window glass or anything else like that. Only the tree canopies obscured it a bit, but only towards the bottom of Ellen's line of sight.

This amazed Ellen once again. Back in The Witch's House, there was a garden section, but the sky at night was always a flat black or dark blue, with the stars or the moon never being visible. She guessed that the demon was either lazy or not strong enough to replicate the complex patterns of the starry sky.

Whatever the case, this sight not only soothed Ellen's mind, but it also made her think. She started her journey yes, and she even had a direction, but what will she do after reaching her destination? How will she earn her living? What will she do in terms of hobby and work? Brainstorming took place.

Ellen started daydreaming about her future, and looking at the stars seemed to enhance her flow of thoughts. She tried to think of things she liked, as in, things she herself liked and not Viola.

Cats, books, clothes, pastries, nature...she was surprised to notice this, but Ellen really started liking nature in general. Her sense of freedom which she finally had was a long time desire of hers. And nature finally allowed her to experience this fully.

"This is more like it!" -thought Ellen.

After the initial disappointments in Alvielia, something positive was finally showing up. Even if something small like this, but it was something. For a little time, she forgot about the cat demon and Viola and the others for a while.

Staring at the starry sky and being alone out here with a loyal, if non-human friend made her feel somewhat safe. The little clearing felt like sort of a sanctuary to her now. As the campfire slowly faded, the lighting conditions around made the sky an even better sight.

Ellen observed the stars, and she wondered about what will happen. She remembered Viola and the others suddenly, but strangely, fear and other such emotions eluded her now. She was now much more confident.

"Finally. -she thought- The first part of my plan actually went fine. I am out of the village, and I got to see things which I always wanted to see. Finally something good, and finally, I do this because I want to do it."

Ellen started thinking about tomorrow. What will she do next? She wakes up ready to go. She must pack her stuff, eat to get ready, and go north. Yes, up north. She wondered what it is like though...

She always read in her books that the more north you go, the colder it would get. This however made Ellen even more exited. She always wanted to see and play with snow, and these were things even Viola's memories barely had. Menidien's warm climate made local winters relatively short and most of the time, snowless.

She also read that in the north, big and tough people lived, so she was now thankful for herself for taking up the 'tough girl' image she did back home. Even though it was just a blind guess, it already promised to serve goodly.

Ellen liked this more and more at the moment, as new things to see were now coming in multitudes. And with all those places of nature she had seen already, Ellen's curiosity sparked up. She was quite sad about how she will be only able to spend limited time observing Menidien's beautiful countrysides though, as she imagined that the rest of the country was like this as well.

After thinking for some time, Ellen got more and more tired. She was still daydreaming about her future when she fell asleep. Her campfire went out in the while. Now both her and Stuart were obscured by the night from eyes that might come around the spy.

And with that, Ellen has escaped from Alvielia, and she was relatively safe in the hands of nature, at least for the time being. This was fortunate for her.

As in the distance, the small gathering of lights that Richard saw earlier was on the move again. It seemed to be moving towards the west, close enough so that Ellen could have seen it clearly. But since she was sleeping, she could blissfully forget about things for once in her life. However...she had no idea what was coming for her.

The world does not really forget events, and Ellen was not aware that her actions as a witch has unleashed many things that she might come to catch up with her in time. This was just a matter of time and decisions. Maybe Viola, maybe someone else.

This is something that the future will surely reveal later. For now, Ellen was asleep, and so was Richard and Viola.

-END OF CHAPTER 4-

-Whoooh, this was difficult to write.

-Sorry for this taking so long, I really wanted to avoid making the story rushed, cheesy or forced.

-School time is coming, so I do not know when will I make Ch. 5, but I will work on it I promise.


End file.
